Playing With Fire
by scififanfreak222
Summary: Maybe if I hadn't gone to school that day, maybe if I'd never tried on my mask, maybe if I'd never met Robin ... Maybe I could have prevented a lot of people from being killed on account of my stupidity. R
1. First Impressions

Hey peoples! This is the story of my OC, Leela (Avatar, if you know her by that name), and her life before going to Gotham and meeting Robin. Originally, Leela and her friends were meant to be in a series of ten books that I was planning to write, I actually had it all written out, but my computer deleted it! D: Anyways, the first book would've been called 'The Fire Within' and the second would've been called 'My Earthly Self'. The third would've been 'On Thin Ice' and the fourth would've been 'Temperatures On The Rise'. The fifth would've been called 'Playing With Fire' and the sixth would've been called 'Light As Air'. The seventh would've been called 'Colder Than …" and the eighth would've been called 'Before The Storm'. And finally, the ninth would've been called 'Thundering' and the tenth would've been called 'When Lightning Strikes'. This story will have extracts from 'My Earthly Self', 'On Thin Ice' and 'Temperatures On The Rise'. The story will take place during 'The Fire Within'. … And you really didn't need to know that! Anyways, enjoy!

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**2 years earlier ...**

I hated being the new girl. I absolutely hated it.

As if leaving Mexico wasn't enough torture, my family had forced me to enter another kind of hell; High school.

Well, I guess it's not high school, it's _Jr._ high school (I was thirteen), but I hated it all the same. I was afraid that it would be just like in the movies. You know, with the cliques, the dirty looks, the jocks, the cheerleaders, the nerds ... I wouldn't fall into any of those categories. Unless 'freaky Mexican people with bad accents and hair' were one of them.

The first thing I noticed about this school was that everyone in this school was incredibly athletic, good-looking and thin. This, of course, made me feel even worse about myself, because, although I wasn't FAT exactly, let's just say I was more 'filled out' than other girls my age.

As I walked into the cafeteria, I noticed that my sister Rosalia, and her twin Anita were already sitting with a bunch of jocks. I wasn't surprised at this at all, because my older sisters (both of them in their junior year) were charming, flirtatious and charasmatic. But most of all, beautiful.

My older brother Ricoshet and his twin brother, Chico, were sitting over at The Rockers' table, obviously very well settled in. Chico, who was always more flirtatious than Ricoshet, was already teaching a pretty rock chick some chords on his bass guitar. Rico, on the other hand, was looking out the window, brooding. Rico had had to break up with his girlfriend, Isabella, so that our move to New York wouldn't be as hard. He was missing her terribly, and he was hating the whole 'moving' idea just as much as me. I liked Rico that way, he was always on my side, and he'd been my rock through all of this, he was the closest thing to a best friend I'd ever had ...

My little brother, Pedro, and his twin brother, Bernardo, were both in elementary school. As were my sister Isadora, and her twin sister, Nora.

So you get the picture, all of my brothers and sisters were twins, and I was the middle child. The odd one out. The FREAK.

Although, twins were kinda a common thing in my family. My mother's twin sister had been stillborn and my father's twin brother, Pablo, is the coolest uncle ever, and the only person I know who can play EVERY instument by ear. Yeah, as you guessed, we're a musical family.

And I'd rather be in the music room than here, in the caferteria aka. HELL.

As I carried my lunch tray sheepishly in my tanned arms, I couldn't help but feel every pair of eyes in the cafeteria on me.

I looked around desperately, trying to find a place where I could sit on my own without looking anybody in the eye.

No luck.

Crap.

Sighing, I decided it would be best if I ate in the library. At least then I wouldn't have to worry about the millions of pairs of eyes (okay, it was 750!), and my only companion would be a half-eaten sandwich and a picture of my dog, Pepe.

I turned to walk to the cafeteria doors, but a quiet, but somehow melodic and forceful voice stopped me.

"Hey," it said.

I turned around, and my eyes were met by that of a very beautiful girl. She was sitting next to an older boy (must've been about fourteen) and another boy who looked to be exactly the same age as her. Both boys were very handsome, and bore a striking resemblance to each other. _They must be brothers_, I thought.

"Are you talking to me?" I asked stupidly, my Mexican accent thicker than the brass cafeteria doors.

"Yeah," the girl replied. "Who else would I be talking to?"

I didn't bother answering, I just looked down at the ground and slid into the table.

"Hey," I said, trying to sound as American as I could. "I'm Leela Garcia."

"Hi!" the two boys said together, eagerness in their voices. After they spoke, they both glared at each other, a silent feud going on between them.

The girl rolled her piercing blue eyes and blew a strand of black hair out of her stunning, pale face.

"I'm Gina," she said, outstretching a long, skinny hand for me to shake. "And these are my brothers, Jeromy and Drew."

"Hola," the older boy smiled, revealing his gleaming white teeth. I grinned at the fact he'd used Spanish to greet me. "I'm Drew. I'm fourteen-years-old and I'm the better looking one." He grinned cheekily at the other boy.

"Hi," the other boy said. "My name is Jeromy. And, yes. My brother may be better looking than me, but where I lack in looks, I more than make up for in brains!"

I laughed. In my opinion, Jeromy was actually better looking than Drew, but I said nothing.

"Well," I smiled. "I'm sure you do!"

"Have you been settling in okay?" Gina asked, her beautiful face showing genuine worry.

"Yeah," I replied, trying to sound as American as possible. "All of my classes have been a breeze, and Spanish was a piece of cake!" I laughed lightly. Of course it was!

Jeromy and Drew laughed with me, and Gina smiled, showing her gleaming white teeth. "What's your next class?" she asked.

"Uh ... Music," I answered, scanning my time-table.

"Me too!" Gina grinned. "Do you play?"

"The guitar," I smiled. "I sing as well, but I'm not very good ..."

"You must be!" Drew piped up. "I was listening to your brothers, and they're just AMAZING!"

I smiled. "Yes, they're very talented."

"I play piano," Gina said primly, not in the least bit boastful. "And Jeromy over here is an excellent singer."

Jeromy shook his head and looked away.

"Well," I smiled. "It seems like you make up for your lack of looks in brains AND musical ability."

"Not really," Jeromy muttered, his pale cheeks slowly turning pink. I couldn't help but notice how lovely his blue eyes were.

"We'll see," Gina said. "We have our practical today. You came in on a good day, Lee. We don't have to do theory!"

Jeromy groaned. "Yeah, Lee." he said. "Theory SUCKS!"

I smiled brightly. I had a nickname!

"Well, there goes the bell," Drew sighed, just as the bell went off. "I'll see you later, guys."

And with that he grabbed his book bag and ran off.

Gina, Jeromy and I got up and walked towards the large cafeteria doors, and as we did, somebody brushed past me.

He was tall, athletic, muscular and good-looking, must've been about fourteen, and he was smiling right at me.

"Sorry," he said, looking me up and down. "I'll see you later, querida."

And with that, he walked off.

"Who was that?" I asked, my heart beating faster than it was supposed to.

"That was Lance Armstrong," Gina answered. "He's gorgeous, obviously, but don't waste your time. He's dating Jennifer O'Brien, head of the junior varsity cheerleading squad."

And sure enough, the boy called Lance walked over to a pretty, tall, curvy girl who was wearing a cheerleading uniform and had honey-blonde coloured hair. He smiled brightly at her, before laughing and taking her into his strong arms.

"Does he do any sports?" I asked, looking at the tendons and muscles in his arms.

"Yeah," Jeromy answered sourly. "Football and sky-diving. He's nearly killed himself twice though, once the chute wouldn't open for him." I could hear by Jeromy's voice that he wasn't to happy about Lance's survival.

I looked over at the handsome, popular boy, (who, at that moment was actually kissing the pretty girl in the cheerleading unifrom), and thought of what a shame it would have been if he HADN'T survived.

For one, I wouldn't have anyone to crush on at the moment.

It also would've been a terrible loss of life.

**2 years later ...**

"Pick up, PICK UP!" I muttered as the cold Siberian winds whipped my long, dark hair across my cold face.

I hated Siberia. I'd hated it the first time I'd set eyes on it. I hated the cold, the snow, the land, and most of all, the death. I would never be able to remeber this palce without having nightmares ...

Jen was crying in her room. She couldn't believe what had happened; she loved him, he wasn't supposed to go away.

Unfortunately, he hadn't loved her enough. We'd been seeing each other secretly for over a month, I was getting tired of my long-distance relationship with Robin and he'd hit a rough spot with Jen. I hated myself for it, and Jen would never know.

Gina was rubbing her temples hard. "I should've seen it coming, I should've seen it coming ..." she kept saying though her tears. "I always see the things I don't NEED to see ..."

Dave was sitting on his own, brooding. He was blaming himself for waht had happened. "We shouldn't have gone on that mission ..." he mumbled to himslef. "It was my idea, we shouldn't have gone ..."

It had been Dave's idea. He pushed me to take the team on the mission, I was the leader, after all. But I wanted to stay here and look after our injured team mate, but Dave had pushed and pushed. He was my second-in-command, my best friend, and I always listened to him. It was my fault, not his.

And me? Well, I was standing in the coldest fricking wind in Siberia, freezing my ass off just to get some stupid call through to somebody who didn't even care. He hadn't picked up the first twenty times I'd called him ...

"Leela?" a voice cracked through the communicator. The static and the wind was interfering with the signal, but I could hear him alright. "Leela? What happeni-"

The signal was breaking up. _Better make this quick,_ I thought.

"Lee?" his voice continued. "Are you alright?"

_WHAT THE HELL DO YOU CARE?_ I wanted to yell at him. _YOU NEVER ANSWERED YOUR FRICKIN' PHONE WHEN I CALLED YOU, AND YOU'VE BEEN CRUSHING ON ANOTHER GIRL WHILE YOU'VE BEEN AWAY FROM ME! YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT. I _HAVE_ HEARD OF YOUR LITTLE FRIEND, STARFIRE!_

Instead I just sobbed, "Dick."

"Richard-John 'Dick' Grayson, I hope your happy with yourself. You never answered. I _called_ you!"

"Leela?" Robin's voice continued to crack. "What's wrong? I can't hear-"

"I HATE YOU, RICHARD!" I yelled, tears pouring down my cheeks. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" I started to cry. "He's dead, Richard ..." I whispered sadly.

He didn't hear that part of what I'd said to him. Just "I HATE-"

I couldn't take it anymore. I just ripped off my mask and smashed my communicator under my steel-toed, black biker boots. And I wailed to the whisteling winds of Siberia:

"Richard-John Grayson, I hate your soul! Damn you, damn you and your stupid team to hell! This all your fault!" he wiped the tears from my eyes, but they just kept coming.

"Richard, Lance is **DEAD**!"

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O.o Wow. Pretty dramatic chapter there, huh? Just to tell you guys, there will be an extract from the past (ie. middle school) and the future (ie. Siberia, Gotham, etc. etc.), so, sorry if you were confused there! ^^ I'll update soon, I promise!

Slán libh!

xscifi :)


	2. Meeting Dave: Unsaid

Hey peoples! The teacher in this chap is based on my fave teacher, Miss McGroary (my Irish, Music, CSPE, and Life Skills teacher) and I'll be really sad if she's not in our school next year! She might be leaving! O.o You didn't need to know that. Oh well! Here's chapter two ...

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**1 year and 6 months earlier …**

Gina, Jeromy and I hurried off to our music class, desperately trying not to be late.

Our teacher was waiting for us when we got to the door, but instead of telling us off, she simply smiled and said, "What took you so long? I was about to send out a search party!"

Miss Kelly McGroary was a pretty, young Irish woman who was very smiley and well-liked by all of her students. She was friendly, funny, and childish, but could sometimes be very serious and wise. Her loves in life were her dog, Pierre, teaching Irish, and playing her piano. She was a virtuoso, meaning that music literally ran through her head, and could come up with chords for songs she hadn't even heard before by just listening to a few bars.

"We have practical today!" Miss McGroary chimed happily, handing out different sheets of music to every different student. "And we also have a new girl in our class! Leela, would you like to introduce yourslef to the class?"

I shook my head shyly. "No thank you," I answered.

Miss McGroary laughed. "It's okay, lovey," she said. "I'd be shy too if I was in your position."

"Miss?" Jennifer O'Brien (aka. Lance's girlfriend) said, raising her skinny arm. "It just says 'CREATIVITY!' on this sheet of paper."

"That's your assignment for the day," Miss McGroary explained. "I figured we'd do something cool today, seeing as we have a newcomer." She smiled at me.

The class erupted into cheers and laughter.

"Can we do Bootcamp, Miss?" Gina asked politely.

"Yes!" Miss McGroary answered. "You'll all take turns playing in bands together, and then I'll decide who I think is the best."

"So it's like Battle of the Bands?" I asked.

"Yeah!" Miss McGroary smiled. "You have two minutes to get into your bands, and each band must have four members only. Your time starts ... NOW."

"Leela, Jeromy and Lance will be in my band," Gina announced before anyone could even start talking.

"I'll play drums," a deep voice came from the corner.

Gina, Jeromy and Lance turned.

In the corner was a large, muscular boy who was wearing a dark grey hoodie with the hood pulled up. The hood cast a dark shadow over his face, making it almost impossible to see.

"Okay," Gina smiled. "So we'll have you on drums, Lance on bass, Jeromy on backing vocals, Leela on lead vocals and guitar and me on piano."

"What about me?" Jennifer asked. "Lance and I are always in the same band!"

"Not today, babe," Lance smiled, leaning down to kiss her.

"Ew," Miss McGroary exclaimed. "There's nothing I hate more than hormonal teenagers! Save for your couch, guys!"

The whole class erupted into laughter as Lance and Jennifer each turned bright red.

"What are we going to sing?" I asked as Lance handed me a guitar.

"Uh, you heard of Paramore?" Gina said.

"Heard of them?" I laughed. "I LOVE them! I have almost all of their CDs!"

"Good," Jeromy smiled. "We need five songs to win. You think you can do that?"

"Well," I thought for a minute. "How about Brick By Boring Brick, Careful, Playing God, CrushCrushCrush, and The Only Exception?"

"Cool," Lance grinned, showing me his neat white teeth. "We're sure to win!"

"I hope so," I mumbled, walking over to the microphone and getting my guitar ready.

"This'll be great!" Miss McGroary squealed. "Your brothers were in here earlier, Leela. They were AMAZING!"

"Glad you thought so," I smiled, looking at my bandmates. "We'll start with Brick By Boring Brick. 1, 2, 3, GO!"

Jeromy started playing the intro on his guitar as the hooded boy began banging on his drums. He had perfect rythm, I noticed, and you could really tell that he loved what he was doing by the way he was pulvorising the drum kit. I also noticed that his hooded head was turned in the direction of where Gina was playing ...

After taking two quick breaths, I started to sing.

I felt very uncomfortable and nervous at the start, but after I saw that nobody thought I was a total retard, I started to have a little ... fun.

I mean, you know, kinda jumping about the place and singing into other people's microphones. Lance and Jeromy didn't seem to mind at all, Jennifer did though ...

When we finished Brick By Boring Brick, we started on Careful, Playing God and CrushCrushCrush. Jeromy and I sang together in all of those.

For The Only Exception, I sat on top of the piano and sang with Gina. She had a lovely voice, and the song was so much better with her singing harmony with me. (A/N: Not to sound mary-sue ish or anything ...)

A few more bands went after us, and Miss McGroary announced her verdict.

We came in a very close second to a Michael Jackson tribute band, to my utter shock and surprise (I wasn't expecting us to win ANYTHING!), and we were paid numerous compliments afterwards. (Our prize was "extra homework ... Psyche!")

"You guys rock!"

"Wow, new girl, you can really sing!"

"Well done."

"I LOVE YOU, LANCE!"

etc, etc ...

Everybody just smiled and said there thanks, but I noticed that the only person who hadn't spoken was the hooded boy, who was now sitting by the drum kit, staring at Gina ...

"Hey," I said quietly as I walked over to him.

"Are you talking to me?" he asked in a surprisingly deep voice.

"Yeah," I smiled. "Who else would I be talking to?"

"Mmm ..." he didn't reply, he just kept staring at Gina.

"Hey," I said again, extending my hand. "I'm Leela Garcia. I'm new, and I couldn't help noticing that you're an awesome drummer!"

The hooded boy shrugged his enormous shoulders. "I'm alright, I guess ..."

"Alright?" I exploded. "You're bloody brilliant! What's your name anyways?"

"David," he answered. "David Parker. But you can call me Dave if you want."

"Well, Dave," I smiled, thinking of how silly this all was. _I_ was the new girl, not him! "Why don't you come sit with us at lunch?"

"Oh, I couldn't do that ..." Dave mumbled, looking in Gina's direction.

"You have a thing for her, don't you?" I said, trying to read his face. (Which was pretty impossible, seeing as it was covered by his hood!)

"No ..." he mumbled, but I knew he was lying.

His head dropped away from Gina, and when I stole a glance in her direction, I realised that she was looking at him too.

With a dreamy expression on her beautiful face.

"Hey," I said. "You never know. She could have noticed you too, but was too shy to say anything."

"You think so?" Dave asked doubtfully.

I shrugged. "I dunno," I said. "But if I'm wrong, I'll buy you a soda."

Dave smiled at me. "I'd like that."

Suddenly, the bell went off.

"Well, I'm off," Lance said, coming over to me. "I'll see you later, querida."

"QUERIDA!" I roared after him. "Querida means 'darling' or dearest one'! You called me querida before class. Why?"

Lance shrugged and smiled. "Because I think you're a darling," he said. Then he walked over to me and whispered in my ear. "I also think you're pretty cute, too."

He smiled flirtatiously as he walked away, but his girlfriend, Jennifer, on the other hand, glared at me, her green eyes narrowing into little slits.

"Hey, Lee!" Jeromy called, sideling up to me. "What's your next class?"

"Uh, art," I answered, scanning my time-table.

Jennifer, overhearing me, smiled. "Me too!" she said (mock) happily. "I'll see you there, _Lee_."

O.o I didn't really like her tone ...

"Uh, Gina?" I nearly jumped for joy. Dave was talking to Gina! "What's your next class?"

"Science," Gina said, shooting him a dazzling smile. "You?"

"I have science too!" Dave laughed. "Would you like me to walk you to class?"

"I'd like that," Gina smiled. "And I'd like it even more if you joined us for lunch later."

Dave looked down shyly, and if his hood wasn't covering his face, I'd say he was blushing.

"You know, Lee, I have art too," Jeromy said casually. "I could show you the way, if you would like that?"

I grinned. "I'd love that," I said, taking his arm as he offered it.

Jeromy chatted animatedly to me on our way out of the classroom, but unfortunately, I wasn't paying any attention.

I was far too busy smiling at the Loving, tender way Gina had looked at Dave ...

**1 year and 6 months later ...**

I panted, gasping for my breath as I leaped from the tall, gothic building.

_Made it,_ I thought gratefully as my hands and knees hit the lower building's roof and got up to start running.

Running. I'd been doing a lot of that lately.

Running from boys, running from bitches, running from _death_ ... Yeah, a lot of running.

I coiled my strong legs as I prepared to jump to the next building, but before I could, I heard voices.

Two very familiar voices that always seemed to be having a stupid arguement.

But this time it wasn't stupid.

"Gina, WAIT!" Dave yelled as he ran after the psychic. "Please, just LISTEN to me!"

"Leave me alone, Dave!" Gina shouted, even though she'd stopped running. "Go away! I don't WANT to talk to you!"

_What are they fighting about now?_ I wondered, edging closer as I looked behind me to make sure that stupid Robin wasn't anywhere around. _He'd just make everything more complicated ..._

"I don't believe you said that!" Gina screeched. "How DARE you blame this on Leela! It wasn't her fault, or Robin's! You know that!"

"Of course I do!" Dave screeached back. "But I need someone to blame all of this crap on! Jeromy was my best friend, Gina! Cut me some slack!"

"He was MY brother!" Gina sobbed, wiping tears from her beautiful blue eyes. "If you wanna blame someone, why don't you blame the person who's REALLY responsible?"

"Gina ..." Dave mumbled. "Please don't be mad at me. I'm so sorry for what I said. It's just that ..." he paused. "We're hunting down Chaos, remember? We could get KILLED tonight! And, I don't wanna die knowing that you hated me in the last moments that we were alive ..."

"I'm sorry you feel that way ..." Gina said coldly, turning away from him. "I'm sorry that there's so much left unsaid between us."

Dave sighed before doing an incredible thing.

He bgan pulling at the bandages wrapped around his nose and mouth, ripping them away so that they were now visible. There was only a little of his skin showing, but from just that I could see the terrible, deep, painful scars he bore ...

"Gina ..." he whispered, putting his hands on her skinny shoulders.

Gina turned to him and looked at him very intensely. "Dave," was all she said.

And then he kissed her.

He put his large hand in the hollow of her ear, placing the other on her small waist, never straying below her belt.

Gina's eyes flew open, surprised, but soon she relaxed into him, wrapping her arms around his massive shoulders.

They stood there kissing for over ten minutes, Gina being the first one to pull away.

They looked each other intensely for a moment, until Dave spoke up: "Unsaid."

"Unsaid." Gina agreed. And they turned and walked on as if noting had happened. As if they hadn't been kissing passionately a moment ago. As if they weren't in love ...

My heart bled for Gina and Dave at that moment. Becasue I knew that that kiss wouldn't mean anything between them, and everything would remain, as Dave had put it:

"Unsaid."

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For RavenxIsxAxBlackxRose: Feel free to make a reference to this moment in 'highschool Not as easy as it seems'!

For Everyone else: Hope you enjoyed that! I promise to update in a weeks' time! (Summer exams XP) Love ya's!

Slán libh!

xscifi :)


	3. Meeting Jen: What Jen Wouldn't Know

Hello! Here's chapter 3! Enjoy it! On pain of death, enjoy it!

O.o

Okay, fine. But review, okay?

**Reply to RobinxOC's review: THANK YOU SOOO MUCH! ^^**

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**2 years earlier ...**

Jennifer was in my art class.

Crap.

I held on to Jeromy's arm tight as we walked into the art room, just in case Jennifer would be waiting for me with a deathly glare and I needed support.

I needn't have worried though.

Because Jennifer was sitting on a stool at the back of the classroom, flipping her lovely curled hair and batting her long eyelashes at a tall, muscular, good-looking upperclassmen with red hair.

I couldn't believe my eyes! She was practically throwing herself at him ... and she had a boyfriend!

Jennifer quit batting her long eyelashes at the guy long enough to see me enter with Jeromy.

"Hey, Leela!" she called. "Come sit over here!"

Jeromy and I exchanged confused glances, before I whispered to him, "Let's just do it! What have we got to lose?"

Jeromy shrugged. "Nothing, I guess," he replied, taking my hand and leading me over to the table.

I liked how his hand felt in mine. It was warm. Soft. Comforting ...

"Leela!" Jennifer giggled. "This is Josh! Josh! This is Leela and her friend, Jeromy!"

Jeromy and I smiled our greetings, nervously taking our seats beside the two infielders.

"Alright, alright, class, settle down!" The teacher yelled, hushing the class with her firm voice.

Miss Jones was a pretty, young woman with black hair and dark brown eyes. She was wearing a floral dress that had bits of paint splashed all over it and had a paintbrush stuck behind her ear. She had tanned skin and a lovely smile, one that would make any new student feel at home in the school.

"Hello, Leela," she smiled at me. "I'm Miss Jones, the art teacher. We're doing abstract paintings today, have you covered that at your old school?"

"Yeah," I answered. I loved abstract paintings. Nobody cared if they didn't make any sense, just that they were cool and colourful. I also loved still-life drawing, cartoons, and anime. (A/N: These are all of MY favourite arty things, just to let you know.) "We did this for a whole semester at my old shool. I got an A." I blushed after I said this.

"Excellent!" Miss Jones said, clapping her hands together. "And if you need anything, just raise your hand. Also," she looked at Jennifer and Josh. "Josh, you're not supposed to be sitting there. Go back to your normal seat, NOW!"

Josh sighed as he looked at Jennifer. "Later, babe," he said, winking at her. Jennifer just giggled in response.

"Uh, sorry," I said after Miss Jones had handed out our paper and paint. "I know this is none of my business, but ... Don't you have a boyfriend? And you were really flirting with that guy ..." I reached into my bag, took out a bottle and started to drink.

Jennifer laughed. "Yeah, I have a boyfriend, but Lance and I have a good relationship." she shrugged. "He doesn't mind it that I flirt with other guys and I don't mind it that he sometimes looks at other girls." she sighed. "I'm sorry I was such a bitch to you earlier. It's just that Lanc flirts with ALL of the new girls, and the only reason it bothered me this time is because you're so pretty."

I nearly choked on my water.

"WHAT?" I spluttered as Jeromy patted me on the back. "Thank you, but are you crazy? I'm not ... I mean compared to ..."

Jennifer smiled. "No, I mean it! I mean, you're gorgeous, Leela. You have lovely dark skin and eyes, and a beautiful accent, and your hair's AMAZING ..."

I looked at Jeromy, who simply blushed, nodded and looked away.

"Yeah, so I got jealous," Jennifer continued. "But I know that Lance would never GO OFF with anothr girl. We may be both flirts, but we kinda ..." she shrugged. "Connect. And I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot, Leela. What do you say to us starting over?"

I smiled. "I'd like that."

"Okay," Jennifer smiled. "I'll start. Hi! My name is Jennifer O'Brien. But you can call me Jen if you want."

I laughed. "Hi, Jen." I said. "I'm Leela Garcia, and this is my friend, Jeromy, but you can call me Lee if you want."

We all laughed together, but suddenly, something came over me.

The room started spinning and I felt very weak, tired, like I was going to throw up.

"Miss," Jeromy said, raising his hand. "Leela looks kinda sick ..."

_I'm going to puke, I'm going to puke,_ I thought. "Ohhhh ..."

"You'd better take her to the nurse," Miss Jones said briskly, noticing my paling complexion. "And, please, stay out there with her for a while, Jeromy."

"Yes, miss," Jeromy replied, helping me out of my seat.

I thought about what Jen had said on our way out pf the art room.

_But I know that Lance would never GO OFF with anothr girl. We may be both flirts, but we kinda ... Connect._ I wondered if she was right.

I'd come accross Lance's type before. Chaming, handsome, _flirty_, talented in everything he does. But also ... a heartbreaker. And I didn't want Jen to get hurt.

I wondered if Jen DID know everything after all.

**2 years later ...**

I was sitting on my own, the wind whipping my hair accross my face.

I sighed, causing my breath to form a cloud of warm air in the severe cold of the small cavern I was sitting in.

Lace and I had crash landed in a remote part of Siberia while on a mission, and were now staying in a small cave until the others received our distress call and came to get us.

"You okay?" Lance asked, noticing me shiver. He was trying to build a fire pit to keep us warm.

"I'm fine," I lied as my teeth chattered. "Just looking at the sun set."

"It's lovely, isn't it?" Lance smiled, sitting down beside me. "It kinda reminds me off that night where we all became a team, you know, when Dave said, 'Now we're a team.' and you said, 'No, now we're a family'? It was before Kimiko and Jeromy ... Anyways, we all knew then and there that you were the one who was supposed to lead us, and you did."

"I did a terrible job of it though," I sighed.

"What are you talking about?" Lance asked, genuinely confused.

"Kimi was killed on our first run-in with Chaos!" I shouted. "And Jeromy is ..." I swallowed, unable to finish.

"Leela," Lance sighed, taking my cold hand in his warm one. "What happened to Kimiko wasn't your fault. She had no powers, and-"

"ROBIN has no powers!" I sobbed. "Kimiko asked me to let her go search alone. Everyone had a partner, barr her! 'We'll cover more ground,' she said. 'I'll be fine,' she said. I let her go! It IS my fault." I sighed. "What happened to Jeromy is my fault too. If Robin and I hadn't ... If Jeromy hadn't seen us ... He wouldn't have ..." I started to cry, unable to finish.

"Now Robin and I barely see each other," I continued. "And for what? Jeromy got himself killed over our being together, and now he's getting involved with some other girl!" I slammed my fist on the ground, unable to keep my anger hidden.

"Leela," he said, putting his hand on my shoulder. "I know. Gina told me about Starfire ... I'm sorry. And I know what you're going through."

"No you don't," I sniffed. "Evereything is always perfect between you and Jen. I've never seen you guys argue. Ever."

Lance sighed. "That's because we're always alone when we argue."

I looked at him serioulsy. "Over what?"

Lance shrugged. "Stupid things. It's gotten worse since Jeromy ... well, she just thinks I've been looking at you and Gina too much."

I smiled at him. "Of course she'd be worried about you looking at Gina, but me? No way!" I laughed. "I'm not pretty, Lance. So you should tell Jen to stop worrying over silly things."

Lance smiled tenderly. "You obviously don't see yourself too clearly. Do you, Garcia?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you're brave, smart, cool, funny, pretty ..." He smiled. "I think that the only person who doesn't see these qualities is you, Lee!"

"You're lying," I blushed, looking away from him.

"No," Lance said, tilting my head up to his. "I'm not."

And then he kissed me.

I knew that I shouldn't have been doing this. I had a (long-distance) boyfriend, and Lance was in a long-term relationship with Jen. But I just coudn't help my self ...

I loved how he'd always smile at me and how he made me feel so good about myself. Robin never did any of those things ...

We sat there kissing for over half an hour, and the whole time we did, I thought about what Jennifer had said to me just two years before:

_But I know that Lance would never GO OFF with anothr girl. We may be both flirts, but we kinda ... Connect_

But now I was kissing her boyfriend.

And that's what Jen would never know.


	4. Jeromy: Playing With Fire

Hello! Here's chapter 4, and I hope you really enjoy it! If not, well, :(

xscifi :)

* * *

**1 year and 6 months earlier …**

Jeromy was sitting with me outside the nurse's office as I held my stomach and tried not to throw up.

"Aww," I groaned, putting my head in my hands. "I'm going to puke …"

Jeromy smiled gently. "It's okay, Lee," he said. "You'll feel better soon, everybody has a little dizzy spell every now and then."

He was being incredibly sweet, but I felt too sick to appreciate that.

"I feel like crap," I mumbled.

And then I did something incredibly normal, with interesting consequences.

I sneezed.

And the room exploded.

Well, it didn't _literally_ explode, but suddenly the room was blowing an incredibly large hurricane, with the tables and chairs and plants blowing all over the place.

But despite all of the chaos, I didn't notice a thing.

Jeromy, however, did.

Unfortunately, because he was right beside me, Jeromy caught the worst of the hurricane, and was blown across the room and into the wall.

"Unn …" he groaned.

"JEROMY!" I shrieked, running to see if he was still in one piece. "Are you alright, what the hell …" I paused. "Did _I_ do that?"

"I don't know," Jeromy mumbled, rubbing his head. "Let's go over there and sit down."

We both walked back over to the chairs outside the nurse's office, me helping Jeromy along the way, and sat down.

"Leela," Jeromy said carefully. "I think you _did_ do that."

"But ..." I said, confused. "H-h-how?"

Jeromy hesitated. "How did you feel when we came out here?"

"Uh," I thought for a moment. "Dizzy, kinda weak, like I was going to be sick," I paused. "I also felt a very strange sensation in my hands. Like a sort off _burning_, I guess. And then it spread." I looked at him sheepishly. "And then I sneezed."

Jeromy thought for a moment. "I think you may be getting an affinity."

I looked at him. "Uh, what?"

Jeromy smiled at me. "An affinity is a stage during adolescence where the person will feel very weak and/or sick for a short period of time before getting their ..." he coughed. "Super powers."

I looked at him, wide eyed. "WHAT?" I exploded. "Are you joking? Me? Powers? No way! I mean ..." I gasped, unable to finish.

"I'm not joking," Jeromy said seriously. "Are you trying to say you didn't know?"

"Well, _naw_!" I said sarcastically. "_Of course_ I knew I had super powers! Why would I be freaking out if I HAD KNOWN THAT I HAD SUPER POWERS?"

Jeromy coughed uncomfortably. "Well, I assumed you knew, Leela," he said. "Suppero Herro Jr., Sr. High School is a school for the gifted ie. The super powered. It's a place where we can grow into and learn to master our 'special' abilities in a safe and friendly environment with other people our age and feel 'normal' even when our powers get in the way of that." he paused. "I must sound like a total nerd."

"No, no!" I smiled. "It's okay. It's kinda ... comforting, actually. Like talking to an adult."

Jeromy smiled weakly.

"I can't believe my parents didn't tell me though ..." I whispered. "My mama and I ... we can tell each other anything. And my papa ..." I sighed. "He was always the one that cheered me up when I felt left out or lifted me up when I felt small. He was my rock, and I can't believe he kept this from me!"

Jeromy touched my shoulder gently. "Don't feel so bad," he said soothingly. "It's very common for parents not to tell their children about their super powers. Take me and Gina, for example. Gina always knew that she had ... 'abilities' beyond the norm, but I didn't know abot my powers until last year."

"How did you find out?" I asked.

Jeromy laughed. "I turned invisible, and I couldn't find myself. I panicked, and that's when my mom told me ..." he sighed. "I'm half-ghost."

"What?" I exclaimed. I realised that I'd been saying 'what' a lot lately.

"It's a_ really_ long story," Jeromy sighed. "And I promise to tell you someday, but I don't really know you that well, but once I do ..." he smiled. "I will."

I smiled back at him. "So," I said casually. "What other powers do you have?"

Jeromy shrugged. "All Danny Phantom-ish stuff, I guess. Flight, density control, invisibility, communication with the dead, evaporation ..."

"And Gina?" I asked.

"Gina's story is ... complicated." Jeromy said slowly. "I'd rather let her tell you herself, but I _can_ tell you Lance and Jennifer's powers."

I nodded, waiting.

"Lance has super stength, and Jennifer has the ability to stretch her body and make bigger or smaller. She was adopted, and nobody knows who her real mom is, but she likes to brag that her dad is Plastic Man."

"PLASTIC MAN?" I choked. "You mean, _the_ Plastic Man? He's incredible! Wow, how lucky is Jen?"

"Pretty lucky," Jeromy agreed. "Although Plastic Man in't one of the A-listers like Superman or Flash, he _is_ pretty impressive."

"So ..." I said. "What about me? I mean, can you tell what somebody's powers are or does the person just _know_?"

Jeromy thought for a moment. "Nobody can really _tell_ what a person's powers are, however I _do_ have a pretty strong feeling that you fall into the Elemental category."

"What makes you think that?" I asked him.

"Well, that sneeze kinda looked like something to do with Air, but it can be impossible to tell what your other powers are." Jeromy replied.

I pursed my lips. "Is that so?"

"Definitely," Jeromy replied.

"Well," I said. "Let's see."

And I clicked my fingers.

Jeromy gasped as a bright orange spark appeared in my hand, dancing gently as our breath caused it to blow this way and that.

I smiled, cupping the warm little flame in my hands and looking down at it. Seeing it there kinda made me forget about how angry I was at my family.

_I have powers!_ I thought gleefully, unaware of the true dangers of this little flame.

Because, even though I didn't know it, even though I was in perfect control, I was already playing with fire.

And if you play with fire, you're just going to get burned.

**1 year and 6 months later ...**

"AARRGGHH!" I screamed, throwing another fireball at the woman.

I'd never been this angry.

"You stupid BITCH!" I screeched. "You killed him! You killed him! Now I have NOTHING left, now I have NOTHING to look forward to!"

I hurled another fireball in her direction.

"What are you?" I snarled. "Some sort of heartless, ugly, old wretch? Have you ever been in love? He DID what you asked, and you KILLED him! He wasn't supposed to die! I LOVED him!"

The woman laughed cruelly. "You're young," she said in her deep, seductive voice. "You don't know what love is. You'll find another, and you'll thank me for this." she tossed her long, red hair behind her shoulders and shrugged as a vine climbed her long legs. "He was a wimp anyways."

I could've killed her.

"TAKE THAT BACK!" I snarled. "TAKE THAT BACK OR I SWEAR TO GOD I'M GOING TO KILL EVERY SINGLE PLANT IN HERE!"

She laughed at me. "Try," she urged.

And I did.

I focused my energy on Earth, an element I hadn't used in a while, and concentrated. My fist opened as I felt all of the lives of every plant in the greenhouse. Their lives were in my hands.

I clenched my fist.

And every single one of them exploded, getting killed in the process.

"AARRGGHH!" she screeched, feeling the deaths of the plants. "How DARE you! You are a manipulator of the Earth! You are not supposed to take the lives of plants!"

I looked coldly at her. "I just did," was all I said.

She glared at me, fire dancing in her sea green eyes.

"You'll pay for this," was all she said before she disappeared.

Once was gone, I dropped my composure.

"WHY?" I sobbed. "WHY? WHY? WHY? This shouldn't have happened, this is all my fault ..."

I snapped.

My whole body became encased in fire, turning the pupils and the irises of my eyes white and making my hair look like a flame. I probably looked like Jonny Storm from the Fantastic Four, but I couldn't have cared less.

I was pissed, and was determined to destroy something. Fast.

I unleashed a massive fireball the size of a football stadium on the elegant greenhouse, encasing it and all of its contents in flames.

"Leela!" Robin yelled. "Stop it! You to burn the place down!"

I wasn't listening to him. I was curled up on the ground, cursing and yelling and crying in Spanish.

"Avatar!" Batman shouted, his monotone voice showing some emotion for once. "Please, power down! You're blocking the exit! We''ll be trapped!"

I did as he said, but continued crying and swearing.

Batman walked straight past me, but Robin knelt down beside me and tried to get me to get up.

"Come on, Lee," he said. "I know how you feel right now, but you seriously have to move." he coughed. "The smoke is getting worse!"

I nodded, getting up and walking with him, my arms wrapped around myself.

Because I knew that this was all my fault.

When I'd gone off with Robin, I'd been playing with fire.

And now, I'd got burned.

And.

Burns.

Never.

Heal.

That.

Easily.


	5. My Parents, My Origin, My Loss

Okay, so here's chapter five! Enjoy! And review!

xscifi :)

* * *

**2 years and 5 months earlier …**

"I can't believe you didn't tell me!" I wailed at my mother and father, who were looking as guilty as two children.

"We're sorry, _cariño_," my mother sighed. "It's a very difficult subject …"

"No it's not!" I yelled. "Rosalia told me that you told them when they were my age! Rico said the same thing! Pedro knows, and he's nine!"

"Oh, _miel_," Papa sighed. "Please don't be angry with us! Think about it! We couldn't just go 'Oh, good morning, _querida_. How did you sleep, well? Oh, and by the way, you have a control over the elements. That means you have super powers!'" He gave me a look. "Would we have sounded crazy or what?"

"I would rather have crazy parents than parents who lie to me!" I said icily before storming up to my room.

I sat on my bed for ages, thinking about everything that had happened to me today.

It hurt my head ...

"_Cariño,_" Mama sighed, slipping into my room. "We need to talk ..."

"I already know that," I said coldly. "How about we start off with how I even got these powers?"

Mama looked down. "It's a very long story, _miel_ ..." she said. "But I'll try my best to explain."

"Our family's story starts over a million years ago, with a young man named Abejundio. Abejundio was a very special boy. His parents had noticed from a very young age that his intelligence, athletism and curious was more developed than that of other children his age. When he became a man, Abejundio developed a very strong love for nature. There was nothing he like better than to go for hikes in the woods, or dip his feet in the water as the waves rushed in. He loved his fresh air, and the clouds seemed to part like the red sea when he walked outside. However, though Abejundio loved nature, he also harboured a great fear for it. At the age of twenty-one, his wife, Adriana, and his young son, Alonso, were killed in a house fire. The locals said it was just an accident, but Abejundio believed that it was more than that, and he blamed himself for the loss of his family. Since that fateful night, Abejundio harboured a very profound fear for fire, and swore that he would never go near it again. When he was twenty-four, Abejundio was just about to lose his house to some nasty debt collectors. They were being unfair to him, saying that he had not paid his rent when he had. This made Abejundio very angry, so angry in fact that his entire body erupted into flames. He killed the debt collectors, not on purpose, but even so. He hated himself for the murder of these horrible men. He had always been a very peaceful, gentle person, but there was also great hatred in his soul. He tried to destroy himself, but the methods he used were unsuited to his abilities. After trying to hurl himself off of a cliff, the gentle summer breeze caught him and lifted himto safety. He tried to drown himself, but he found that the waters allowed him to have oxygen so he could survive. He attempted to bury himself alive, but the earth fed him oxygen and grew him food. He walked through a fire pit, but the flames merely clung to his clothing. At thirty, Abejundio had grown very tired of his life. He went to a very strange and wonderous place that nobody can remember the name of, and there he met a beautiful young sybil-"

"Mama?" I interrupted. "What's a sybil?"

"A sybil is a very powerful and ancient sorceress," my mother answered. "Now listen to the story."

"The sybil's name was Carmelita, and she told Abejundio his future. She saw him being praised and worshipped by the people as a peace keeper, but more accurately, as an Avatar-"

"Avatar?" I asked. "Like the TV series?"

"Stop interrupting!" My mother laughed. "I'm nearly finished, so you can ask your question then, okay _miel_?"

"Abejundio did not believe the sybil, as he did not see himself as a peace keeper any more. The sybil told him that although his heart was clouded, it was not entirely black, and that he could right the wrongs he had done by keeping the balance between the people around him. Abejundio did not agree with the sybil, but he sensed that she was wiser and more aware of his abilities than he was, so he did what the sybil advised. The sybil asked him to always remeber him no matter what, and Abejundio promised he would. They sealed their goodbye with a kiss and Abejundio left, unaware that he had quickened the sorceress. Abejundio travelled the world, bringing peace to clashing villages and kingdoms. He met another woman, by the name of Mercy, fell in love with her and had six children with her. Mercy died at a very young age, and his children ran away, once again leaving Abejundio without a family. Abejundio returned to the sybil, who welcomed him with open arms and revealed that she had given birth to six children in his absence, but that they had all ran away. It turned out that each of Abejundio's children had control over each of the elements; Earth, Wind, Fire and Water, as well as the 'bonus' elements, Thunder and Lightning. The sybil revealed that her children had had control over the six disciplines of magic; Darkness, Adept, Necromancy, Teleportation, Sensitive and Shape-Shifting. That night, the sybil once agin told Abejundio's future, and a prophecy was revealed; One day, each of the sybil, Carmelita's, and Abejundio's children would meet, fall in love, and have children of their own. The hundreth descendants of the two middle children would one day meet and have children of their own; twin girls, twin boys, a single baby girl, twin boys and twin girls. The middle child, the single baby girl, would be the next Avatar."

My mother looked at me. "I am a descendant of the sybil, _miel_. And your father is a descendant of Abejundio. We are the hundreth descendants of their grand-children and you are our middle child. You are the Avatar, _querida_, and you are very special indeed."

"Wait," I said. "If you and Papa are the hundreth descendants of Abejundio and Carmelita's grand-children, then aren't you and Papa related? Cousins, I mean?" I shivered.

"Oh no, _miel_!" Mama laughed. "There is magic in our blood that changed our blood lines and DNA from the moment we met. Our blood was magically engineered for us to be able to know straight away from first sight that we were meant to be together. I saw your father for the first time at a quinceañera when I was thirteen. Love at first sight ..." she smiled at the obviously fond memory.

"Aw," I smiled. "That's the sweetest thing I've ever heard."

"It was very sweet," Mama sighed. "And I shall tell you the story some other time. But right now it is your time to ask questions about your powers. Is there anything you'd like to know?"

I hesitated. "If you and Papa have superpowers." I said.

Mama laughed. "I knew that this question would be coming up!" she said. "Yes, we do, _querida_."

"What are they?" I asked.

"Well, since I am a descendant on the sybil, I inherited the discipline of shape-shifting magic," Mama replied. "I can change my appearance and magical discipline however I wish, but I prefer to keep my appearance as it is naturally."

I was glad of that. Despite giving birth to nine children, my mother was a beautiful and slim woman with dark, glossy hair, tanned skin and dark brown eyes. I wished I was more like her. She was an incredible woman who managed to feed and make time for us all, and seemed to be the glue that held our crazy family together.

"And Papa?" I asked.

"Your papa has something that is called a 'coupled power'," my mother said. "This means that he shares half of his ability with your uncle Pablo, and that they are stronger together."

"What is their power?" I said.

"Manipulation of fire," my mother answered. "Just like your brothers, Chico and Ricoshet."

"Wow," I whispered. "Is it all true?"

"Very true," my mother said seriously. "You have incredible power at your fingertips, Leela. We didn't tell you until now because we knew you wouldn't have understood. We're sorry for that, but we were only thinking of what was best for you."

"I know, Mama," I smiled at her. "Do you mind if you leave me alone for a bit? It's a lot to take in, and I need some time to think ..."

"Of course, _cariño,_" Mama smiled. She kissed my forehead and left me alone with my thoughts.

I was the Avatar.

I had super powers.

I was special ...

Yeah. Right.

**2 years and 5 months later ...**

I was sitting on my own in The Sewer, playing with one of the multi-coloured braids in my hair.

I'd gone kind of ... goth over the past few months, all the better to match my mood. Which was pretty damned depressed.

It seemed that I'd lost everything over the past few years. I'd lost Jeromy, I'd lost Lance, I'd lost Robin, I'd lost Beast Boy ...

Thinking of him hurt so much. It brought back all of the pain. Exactly _why_ I'd gone goth was sort of his fault. Well, not really, it was _love's_ fault. Love _and _Raven's fault.

God, I hated them both so much right now.

I remembered mentioning this café to Raven when we'd first met. I told her we could talk about chakras and poetry if we ever got the chance, but we never did.

Thank God.

Like I would've wanted to have gone to a café with a _back stabber._

Jeromy and Gina's older brother, Drew, smiled as he came over to me with my coffee. "Hey, Lee," he said. "I like your ... black."

I shrugged. I'd dyed my dark brown hair black with blue and purple streaks in it with side bangs and long, uneven layers. My dark eyes were made over in dark brown eyeshadow (which most people mistook for black) and black eyeliner. I wore a black Fall Out Boy T-shirt and balck skinny jeans, with (guess) black Converse with blue and purple laces.

"Thanks," I monotoned, taking my coffee from him. "I like your ... apron."

Drew had been working in The Sewer since the Justice League had sent him on an undercover mission in New York. He was lying low, playing the 'sweet college boy who works in that café'. He was doing a very good job of it.

Drew laughed. "Well, we've both changed quite a bit," he said.

"You could say that," I said flatly.

"What's wrong, Leela?" Drew asked.

"Nothing's wrong." I sighed. "I'm fine."

"No," Drew said. "You're not. I've never seen you like this, Lee! You come here everyday, and everyday you're like a zombie!"

"It's nothing," I insisted flatly. "I'm just feeling a little low, that's all."

"Gina told me about Beast Boy and Raven," Drew said. "I'm really sorry, Lee. I knew how much you cared about him ..."

"Damn right, I did!" I snapped, clenching fist, breaking my paper cup and causing my coffee to spill all over the ground. "I've lost everything, Drew! I've lost your brother, I've lost Lance, Robin ... I LOVED Beast Boy! He LOVED ME! He wasn't supposed to go off with her!"

"Leela," Drew said gently. "He's just a boy. And Beast Boy and Raven are soul mates. Gina saw it, and she never sees wrong."

"I've lost everything." I moaned, ignoring him. "I don't even know who I am any more ..."

"Neither do I!" Drew joked, eyeing my balck make-up. "But Leela, no matter how messed up you get as Leela Garcia, you'll always have Avatar."

"No, I won't," I said quietly.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I've lost everything that's important to me."

I swallowed. "I went to the doctor's yesterday ..."

"And?" Drew said expectantly.

"He told me I was having a definity."

Drew's jaw dropped. "That means ..."

"I know!" I sobbed. "I'm special anymore, Drew, I'm not Avatar!" I sniffed.

"Drew, I've lost my powers!"

_To be continued ..._


	6. Meeting Kimiko: Chewing Gum

Hey everybody! Okay, so this chap will intoduce Kimiko Kazuki, another OC of mine. She's never been mentioned before as she was killed off so long ago, and she never really came up in the topic of conversation ... anyways! Hope you enjoy it!

xscifi :)

* * *

**4 months earlier ...**

It had been a couple of months since my mama had told me about my powers, and slowly but surely, I was getting the hang of them.

We had hero training every second week of school (we had regular subjects every first, in case a student decides they want to pursue a 'regular' career) which included a martial arts class, flight, PE, swimming, target practice, the works!

I was alright at flying, I guess. It wasn't all that hard, but I didn't want to brag ...

Lance, Jeromy, Jen, Dave, Gina, Drew and I became great friends, sitting beside each other at lunch everyday, chatting, laughing. I was definitely enjoying school more now!

Lance continued to eye me up and flirt with me (flirting I simply shrugged off and ignored, mind you) and Jen continued (to pretend) not to mind. I felt really bad for her, but it wasn't my fault that Lance was the hopeless flirt that he was!

Gina and Dave were getting pretty close, and I'd started to notice a little love/hate between them. For one, they had an incredibly stupid argument everyday, would sulk about and the make up later. They were totally meant to be together, and everybody knew it!

I noticed my friendship with Jeromy had grown, and I was beginning to wonder how I really felt about him ... He was modest and shy, I knew, but still incredibly sweet. He wasn't a stupid bone head, like Lance or (sometimes) Dave!

Yeah, everything was going just fine. Until one day ...

Well, Jeromy, Dave and I were getting our lunch one day, you know, everything was normal, having a laugh, carrying our lunch trays over to the guys, when suddenly ...

I tripped.

On a skateboard, mind you. I may have been clumsy, but this skateboard was lying out in the middle of the cafeteria. I was too busy laughing at some joke that Dave had cracked, I wasn't paying any attention ...

The skateboard belonged to a certain Miss Kimiko Kazuki. A sixteen-year-old sophomore with a bad attitude and an even worse temper. She had no powers, but more than made up for it with her intense martial arts skills, and was rumoured to be able to carry two wild boar up a hil barebacked. That's how strong she was.

She was an absolutely gorgeous Asian girl, with pretty almond shaped eyes and tanned skin, the darkest black hair with bright red streaks in it. She wore heavy balck eye-liner and red eye shadow, her clothes were balck and slightly gothic. She got around by riding her mo-ped, or her skateboard.

Which I'd just tripped over.

Unluckily for me, it was sloppy joe Tuesday, and I fell back the way, my sloppy joe flying up in the air, coming down swiftly, and landing on Kimiko's head!

Well, needless to say, she was pretty pissed.

"WHAT THE HELL?" she screeched, getting up and ripping the sloppy joe from her ruined hair. "WHAT THE BLOODY HELL?"

"I-I'm s-sorry," I stammered, getting to my feet. "I t-t-tripped. I didn't-"

"YOU THINK YOU'RE ALL THAT, RIGHT? JUST BECAUSE YOU'VE GOT THIS STUPID PROPHECY THING?" Kimiko shouted. "WELL, GUESS WHAT? I'VE GOT A PROPHECY THING TOO! AND APPARENTLY I WAS SUPPOSED TO GET MY POWERS TWO YEARS AGO! AND GUESS WHAT ELSE? I NEVER GOT THEM!"

"Kimiko," I said. "I'm sorry, I never-"

"HOW WOULD YOU LIKE IT IF SOMEBODY SPLASHED A SLOPPY JOE ALL OVER YOU?" Kimiko cut me off, grapping a handful of her spaghetti. "HOW ABOUT I SHOW YOU HOW IT FEELS?"

And with that, she threw the spaghetti all over me.

That tore it.

I began yelling and swearing at her in Spanish, making huge hand gestures and stomping my foot, but then I remembered I could do something a whole hell of a lot easier the shout myself hoarse. I picked up some of her spaghetti and threw it at her.

Of course, Kimiko was too smart for me, she ducked and let my spaghetti hit a senior in the back of the head.

"HEY!" he yelled, grabbing a sloppy joe and getting ready to throw it at me.

Dave was the one who made it official: "FOOD FIGHT!"

And all hell broke loose.

I'd never been involved in a food fight before, I have to say, it was a whole hell of a lot of fun!

Jeromy and I covered each other, crawling under tables and keeping an eye on each other, in many ways, this food fight was like a real war!

Of course, the 'war' didn't last too long though, as Principal Powers came in and yelled: "STOP!"

The cafeteria immediately became quiet, people shoving their food under their tables, trying to look innocent, even though their clothes were covered in food.

I cringed, suddenly feeling like I would get into trouble, even though it wasn't entirely my fault. Kimiko, on the other hand, didn't look guilty at all. This probably happened to her a lot ...

"Who started it?" Principal Powers demanded, planting her hands on her hips. "Speak up, or none of you get detention!"

Everybody began fidgeting and looking around uncomfortably. Nobody would rat on Kimiko, of course, and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't rat on me either.

I gulped. _Time to be the bigger person, Garcia,_ I thought. _Seems like noboy else will ..._

"Principal Powers?" I cleared my throat. "I started it."

Principal Powers made no effort to hide her surprise. "What?" was all she said.

"Wow," one of Kimiko's friends whispered. "The kid's got guts."

"Oh yeah?" Kimiko sneered. "Well, so do I!"

"Were you alone in this, Leela?" Principal Powers asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

I was about to say yes, but somebody interupted me by saying: "No, Miss, she wasn't. I was the one who started the food fight, Leela just tried to defend herself."

I was surprised. Kimiko knew my name?

"Come with me, you two," Principal Powers said. "And the rest of you, clean this mess up! I want this place spotless by the time I get back!"

Sheepishly, we followed Miss Powers into a room marked 'DETENTION'.

"Twenty minutes," she snapped. "Because Kimiko has been good for the past few months and Leela is a new comer."

She slammed the door behind her, leaving Kimiko and I alone.

"Bitch," Kimiko muttered, taking out some gum and pooping it into her mouth. "Want some?"

I nodded slowly, taking a strip of gum from her. "Why did you 'fess up back there?" I asked as I chewed. "You could have easily allowed me to take the fall, but you-"

"I saw that you had guts," Kimiko answered. "Even when I didn't, and I respect you for that." she hesitated. "I'm sorry I was such a bitch earlier."

"S'okay!" I smiled. "It seems like I'll have plenty of time to forgive you in detention!"

"Let's start over," Kimiko said. "My name's Kimiko Kazuki. And you are?"

"Leela Garcia!" I grinned wryly. "I hope we can be great friends, Kimi."

"I hope we can be good friends too, Lee!" we both laughed together as we chewed our gum in detention.

**4 months later ...**

_Chewing gum._ That's all I could think about at that moment.

In the rain, with the sounds of people mourning and crying, in their black clothes. As I was in mine.

A funeral. Of a dear, dear friend.

I remebered the day we'd first met. In the detention room. Laughing and messing when we should've been writing out lines on the board.

Chewing gum, I thought again.

As I placed a packet of Juicy Fruit on Kimiko Kazuki's coffin


	7. Gina and the Storm

Well, here's chapter seven. This chap will be told from Gina's POV and it *could* get a little scary. Enjoy! And review!

xscifi :)

* * *

**2 years earlier ...**

"Jeromy, Gina! Get inside the house NOW! You'll both be soaked!" Mrs. Helen Demetrius yelled as she flung the door open for her two (out of four) children.

It was raining cats and dogs outside, and the clouds seemed to just be getting darker by the minute. A storm was coming ...

"Did you bring anybody home with you?" Timmy asked Gina as she quickly shrugged off her soaking black raincoat and pulled off her black rain hat. "Did you? Did you?"

"No," Gina snapped. She was not in the mood for her little brother's shenanigans today, thank you very much. And by 'anybody' he obviously meant Leela ... "We didn't bring anybody home! Who would want to come to a house where a little squirt like you lives, huh?"

Timmy's bottom lip trembled.

"Gina!" Helen scolded. "How dare you upset your brother like that! It's not his fault he's a ... well ..."

"A squirt." Drew, who was curled up on the couch, finished, not bothering to look up from his book. "Poor little guy. He may never hit his growth spurt ..."

"Hey!" Timmy snapped.

"Guys, please!" Gina yelled. "I've had a splitting headache for most of the day, could put a sock in it, please?"

The boys immediately quietened.

"You don't think ..." Drew began. "I mean, because of the lightning ..."

"Shh!" Gina said. "I'll be fine! I'll be in my room if anyone needs me ..."

The boys didn't argue, but didn't stop worrying either. Because, as Gina made her way up the stairs and into her room, the boys wondered if she would be alright, free from nightmares, death ...

Because Gina was no oridinary girl.

**Gina's POV**

My head was killing me ...

I groaned as I landed into my dark room, slamming the door shut behind me as I crawled under the covers.

_It's started,_ I thought miserably as the first rumbles of thunder began to hit like the deep sounds of an African drum. _It won't be too long until the lightning starts ..._

From birth, I had held abilites much more advanced than that of any other child my age. For instance, at recess, I would never run about playing stupid games like tag or kickball, because I knew that they wouldn't help us in our development to adults.

When asked what I wanted to do when I grew up, I would simply reply by saying that I may not be alive when I'm grown up. That accidents happen, and bad people sometimes snatch little children like myself from their beds, and torture and hurt them and make them to all kinds of things they don't want to do.

This left the people who had asked thinking that my parents were incredibly scary people. This was not true; my parents were the most loving, caring, thoughtful parents any person could have, and I was extremely lucky to have them myself. That's what I'd reply.

"But how do you know these things?" the people would ask. "How do you know about these horrible things that sometimes happen to little children?"

I never replied, but in my mind, I was thinking: "My dear friends, I know all of this because I _saw_ it."

Not personally, may I add, but in my dreams, I would have frightening nightmares about a young girl with bright blue eyes and blonde hair being snatched from where she slept and being taken down into the basement ... screaming for hours on end, until ... Nothing.

_Death._

How did I see these things you ask? Well, I'll tell you, but like many stories, the hero or heroine does not come in until much, much later.

My story begins hundreds of years ago, in Ancient Greece, in the time where people worshipped and believed in Zeus and his mighty gods of Olympus: Herra, the goddess of marriage and childbirth. Hades, the lord of the Underworld. Posoiden, the god of the sea. Herculeas, the god of strength. Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war. Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and many, many more.

However, there was a goddess that nobody really knew about, Delphi, the goddess of near future events. This goddess, the goddess of my origin, did her work as a spirit who took hold of the bodies of many beautiful young women in Greece, granting them extraordinary powers to do with the mind.

Delphi had a temple built in her honour, and the young women whose body she had possessed would be the High Priestess of this temple, being the one that everyone would come to for advice as she could see visions into the future.

Five months before I was born, the High Priestess was found dead in her bed at the tender age of twenty-one, but the last words that were spoken through her mouth were a vision: "The next High Priestess is the unborn daughter of Helen and Ceasar Demetrius."

Of course, that was me.

The other priests in the temple came looking for my mother and father, taking them to the temple and telling them what lay in store for me after I was born: I would be absolutely beautiful, my skin as pale as snow, my eyes bluer than the sky, my hair as black as night. I would be far more intelligent than anyone else my age, being able to do highly complicated arithmetic by the age of three, and learning highly difficult scientifics by the age of five. I would be perfect in every single way, without a flaw in my personality or a will of my own; I would obey anything, or anyone. However, they didn't tell my parents the side effects to the soul of Delphi entering my body: If, by chance, there happened to be a second child in the womb when the soul entered my body, it would instantly kill the second child in a heartbeat.

Sadly, my twin brother, Jeromy, was stillborn and my parents were devastated, yet they didn't know that the priests were secretly gleeful over my brother's death, for even at a few hours old, I was intelligent enough to read these priests' minds.

It made me angry that they were so happy over the death of a child. Anger, and I was only a week old. Yet, for months after my birth, I had numerous dreams about my brother, with him talking to me and telling me that there WAS a way to bring him back, I just needed to listen.

At the age of three weeks, I entered the dream of my parents and told them not to get rid of Jeromy body, and I explained to them that there was a way we could bring him back by performing a reverse exorcism excercise, ie. We do a whole bunch of magicky stuff over his body that's supposed to kill a ghost, but instead it was to bring a ghost back to life.

My father performed the amazingly difficult (and forbidden) procedure that flung my brother's soul back into his body, therefore bringing him back to life.

However, there was a terrible price to pay. Jeromy was granted ghostly powers due t his time spent as a dead person, but he also had a half-life, meaning he could only spent time as a regular human boy for just a few days at a time, before having to go to ghost form to regain his energy.

The priests found out about our procedure and chased us out of the temple, leading my father to desperately transport us ... to another time.

My family and I made our home in the 20th century, even though we were poor and didn't have much money. I became a model at the age of ten, where I was constantly in a competition with other girls, all of whom I thought were thinner and more beautiful than I, when they actually weren't. Needless to say, I began starving myself and getting sick in the toilet, developing anorexia and forcing my parents to section me. I recovered, but I remained painfully thin to this day, and I still hate the way I look.

**CRASH!**

I grunted, as the sound of lightning rang out in my ears and my headache grew worse. It would be coming, any minute now, I could sense it.

I crawled to my bed, placing my head beneath the covers and burying my head in my hands, silently pleading that I wouldn't have to endure another nightmare while I was awake.

There was another crash of lightning, and then my bloodcurdling screams started.

**Later, Normal POV ...**

"Gina?" Jeromy's concerned voice rang out as he quietly entered his sister's room and looked around the place. "Gina? Are you alright? We heard screaming and-"

He was cut off by the sound of muttering and the sight of somebody shivering and rocking back and forth beneath the covers.

"Gina?" Jeromy said again, cautiously approaching his twin. "Gina, are you al-"

He gasped as he pulled the covers away from his sister's shivering form.

Her skin looked far paler than usual, and great, dark rings had buried themselves under her piercing blue eyes. Her eyes were wide as she continued to mumble and mutter, unable to say anything else but, "The Demonata, The Demonata, The Demonata."

But this was not the most striking thing about Gina's appearance. Because, there, just where her long curtain of black hair was supposed to be, was hair that was a startling white colour, with two long black streaks making their way down from the front of her hairline, making her look like Rogue, from the X-Men.

"Mom?" Jeromy yelled, startled, because he knew that this vision had been something serious.

As it had scared his sister. Half. To. Death.

**2 years later ...** (A/N: This is what Gina saw in her vision)

The rain continued to fall on the bodies of the dead teenagers, as the four figures looked on emotionlessly.

The first was an extremely handsome boy, his hair long and black, his skin pale and his body muscular, wearing a white tank top and jeans despite the rainy weather.

The second one, more equipt for the wet weather, was wearing a dark brown bubble raincoat, with the hood pulled up over his face, covering all of it but his nose, mouth and neck in a dark shadow.

The third was wearing a strange silver and blue body suit, his black hair cropped short, his body muscular and his eyes red.

In fact, that's what all three of these boys had in common (despite the fact that they were all teenagers). Eevry one of them had four, red, glowing eyes, each one contorted in anger.

These three brothers, these three demons, were all members of the trio that made up The Demonata.

The fourth figure was a girl, her skin a pale grey and her hair a pretty violet colour, her navy blue eyes filled with sadness as she looked at the dead bodies of the teenagers.

The first belonged to a boy, his black hair spiked up like a hedgehog, his clothes the colours of a traffic light, his eyes masked, and his skin a terrible white colour, formally a lovely peach.

The second body belonged to a girl, her hair long and red, her clothes revealing, consisting of a belly top and a short mini skirt, her skin a pale tan, formally a Tamaranean orange tan.

The third belonged to another boy, his hair short, spiked and green, his clothes a black body suit with a purple stripe down the middle, his skin a crazy green colour.

The fourth belonged to another boy or, you could call him a man, his head bald, but robotic, he wore no clothes but his suit of robotic armour, his skin a lovely black colour.

The rest of the bodies belonged to a pretty Mexican-American girl who had had a large hole punched through her body, an insanely beautiful and pale girl with white hair, who had also been shot in the stomach, a formally bubbly and blonde girl, whose elastic body had been stretched until it snapped in half, and a massive boy, who'd been strangled to death, his blood seeping through the bandages that concealed his head and face.

"Good job, sister," the boy in the white tank top said seductively. "You have succeeded in helping us bring down those worthless humans. Our father will be pleased."

"I do not care what our father will think, Jesse," the girl replied, her eyes fixed on the green skinned boy. She loved him, he shouldn't have gone ... "I'm just glad that we have this over and done with. How are we getting back, Jared?"

"Jacob is teleporting us back, sister," the hooded boy replied in a slightly aggressive voice. "Do not become anxious, your mother is safe."

"Is she?" the girl asked the boy wearing the sliver and blue bdy suit. "Promise me that she's alright, Jacob."

"She is fine," Jacob assured her. "You have done as our father asked, so he has not harmed her. You are becoming one of us, sister dear."

"One of you ..." the girl said bitterly, looking down at the dead bodies of the people who had once been her friends. Why had she turned on them?

"Raven?" Jesse called. "We are leaving now."

Raven nodded ever so slightly, allowing her blue eyes to turn red and split into four as she andher brothers dispappeared.

And the rain continued to fall, causing the blodd of the dead teenagers to flow down into the sewer below as the lightning began to strike.


	8. Dave and the Mummy Detective Guy

Okay, so this chap is dedicated to The Mighty One, because he was curious to know about Dave's past, and RavenxIsxAxBlackxRose, because she did such an awesome job writing from Dave's POV in her 'highschool' story and I'm really proud of that. But before I continue I have something to announce:

**GINA'S VISION WILL_ NOT _COME TRUE! WHY WOULD I KILL OFF THE TITANS OR MY OW OCS? DO YOU THINK I'M STUPID?**

That is all XD

xscifi :)

_______

* * *

_

**Seven years earlier ...**

I stayed hidden away from all of the other children, my head bowed so the sun's light didn't enter my hoodie and expose my face.

I was a freak.

It was clear to everybody, even my teachers. I was the shy, moody, aloof kid that didn't talk. And didn't bother trying. Who'd wanna hear a word out of my mouth, anyways?

So I stayed there, isolated from everything as the children around me played. I shouldn't have been that way. Isolated. It was unhealthy. Anti-social. Abnormal ...

My hooded head snapped up.

Someone was watching me.

I turned my head to the direction I felt the gaze from, my shadowed eyes meeting a pair of almond shaped blue ones.

The belonged to Gina Demetrius, the girl I'd been crushing on since first grade.

With her deep blue eyes, snowey white skin and hair as black as the night, Gina was by-far the prettiest girl in the entire school.

Just yesterday, Adam Marks, the most popular guy in school asked her out ... well, not really. We were only fifth graders after all, but still, he'd ask her to eat lunch with him and go for a bike ride with him after school, before flirtatiously adding that she was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen.

That was a big mistake.

Because Gina absolutely EXPLODED at him, saying, "Don't call me beautiful! I'm not beautiful at all! Take a look around! There are plenty of other girls around here! Why don't you go bother them?"

Needless to say, Adam didn't go near Gina again after that. Neither did anybody else for that matter ...

So there she was, sitting alone, looking at ... me?

Why would she be looking at me? I was worthless. Just a freak of nature, worthless ...

_You're neither of those things and you know it._

I gasped. That was Gina's voice, clear as a bell and as melodic as a choir. Why did it seem so close? She was sitting over a metre away.

_What?_ I thought.

_You're not worthless. You're just made to feel that way by your peers and the people around you. They don't understand you, David. They don't understand what you've been through ..._

Hell no, they don't, I thought angrily.

My life had been HELL so far, and I was only eleven! It still hurt to remember ...

____

-FLASHBACK-

_There was a slam._

_Dad was home from the bar early._

_I cringed away from the door almost immediately. My instant reaction to my father coming home. I didn't want to hurt again ..._

_I was still syiff from yesterday._

_"Where are you, you stupid little ass?" Dad roared. He was drunk as a monkey, his words were all slurred. "Where are you? COME HERE!"_

_"I'm over here, Dad," I said, walking sheepishly towards him. "Please don't hurt me."_

_Pathetic, I know. But I was seven. Cut me some slack._

_"I hate you!" Dad screamed, grabbing me by the arm and yanking me in. "If it wasn't for you I wouldn't have had to marry your stupid mother and I wouldn't be stuck here!"_

_"I'm sorry, Daddy!" I wailed, tears beginning to roll down my cheeks. "I'm sorry I ruined your life!"_

_Of course, I didn't come up with this apology myself, my father had told me first-hand that I'd ruined his life. I had shamed him. I was a disappointment._

_"You did!" Dad slurred. "I'm going to make you pay!"_

_He reached for his belt._

_"NO, DADDY, PLEASE!" I begged. "Don't beat me again!"_

_"I'm not going to beat you," my dad said, his voice dangerously low._

_"W-what are you g-going to do to me then?" I stuttered, afraid._

_Dad didn't say anything. He just reached into his pocket and took out his vintage pocket knife. His prized possesion. He cared about it more than he cared about me or my mom._

_"I'm going to kill you," he said, bringing the knife up close to face._

_"Daddy, NO!" I screamed._

_But the blood had already started pumping out of my face._

**_Later ..._**

_"Dave!" Mom said, coming downstairs a few hours later. "Honey, where are you?"_

_Funny. She'd been asleep throughout all of my torture. _

_"Dave, I- OH MY GOD!" she began hyperventilating, putting her hand over heart. _

_Then she fainted. _

_Why? Because my face was horribly, hideously scarred. _

_And my dad had done it. _

_Just before he walked out of our lives._

_Forever._

_Good riddance._

-END OF FLASKBACK-

I winced. It hurt to remember that fateful day, where I'd earned my scars, and had hated my self and the way I looked ever since. My mom had taken me to a doctor afterwards, to see if there was anything we could do.

It wasn't a normal doctor, though. You see, I wasn't a normal boy. Neither were a lot of the boys I lived around.

You see, I was sort of 'gifted' and 'gifted' children require a 'gifted' doctor, so my mom took me to an affinicist, I doctor who deals with children who have super powers.

He looked at my scars and informed my mother that the knife that had made them was magic, a vintage knife.

My mom asked him what that meant.

He told her it meant that the scars could only be undone by my soulmate, somebody who loved me no matter what I looked like, somebody like me, ie. 'Gifted'.

It was at that moment I knew that I would be ugly for the rest of my life. I'd never find my soul mate, not the way I looked. I was hideous.

No, you're not.

I looked up. Gina was staring at me, a sad smile on her beautiful face, her gorgeous eyes full of guilt.

After that, the bell rang. I sighed. Class. An oasis where everybody was too busy not learning to stare at me or wonder why I was such a freak.

I got up, turning to go inside but Gina passed me on the way.

"I like your hoodie, David," she smiled, her melodic voice full of sincerity. "And ... I'm sorry."

The she walked off.

I blushed.

Maybe I wasn't that much of a freak after all.

**7 years later ...**

"Why don't you trust me, Dave?" Gina said sadly, turning away from me.

"Gina, why would you think I don't trust you?" I asked. "I trust you with my life!"

"No you don't," Gina said coldly, her arms crossed over her chest. "Why won't you show me your face then?"

My jaw clenched. "You'd hate me if I showed you, Gina," I said, my voice low and sad.

"I could never hate you, Dave," she said quietly, turning around and taking my large hand in her tiny one. "You're ... You're my best friend."

"And you're mine," I smiled. She couldn't see it though, under my bandages ...

"I want to see your smile, Dave," Gina said, finering the bandages that ran along my face. "You're always so happy when we're together. Always laughing and joking ... I've never seen you smile."

"My smile is ugly," I said quietly, me being the one to turn away this time.

"I'm sure it's not."

"You're not sure of anything, Gina!" I snapped. "You don't know everything I've been through! What I've felt ..."

"I do, actually," Gina said softly. "Fifth grade. I read your mind as you remembered it. Dave! I'm so sorry! I didn't-" she couldn't go on. "I've always felt I could relate to you better, Dave. Better than Leela, better than Jen, even better than Jeromy!"

I swallowed.

"And it's all because of what you went through! I've shown you my secrets," she said sadly. "Will you show me yours?"

I sighed. She did have a pretty good point.

"Okay," I said. "But if I show you, you have to promise not to laugh or cry or throw up, okay?"

Gina simply nodded. I took a deep breath as I took off my hat and began unravelling my bandages.

Gina gasped. I knew it, I knew she'd think I was a freak!

"You hate me now, don't you?" I said sadly, turning away. "You don't like me, I'm hideous!"

**Gina's POV**

"No, you're not," I answered him honestly.

Because he honestly wasn't.

His face was covered in a series of faded scars, yes, but underneath that he actually had a very handsome face, deep set grey eyes and caramel brown hair. "You're lovely, Dave ..."

"Don't lie to me!" Dave snapped, turning to face me. "Save your breath, and spare me my feelings."

I took a deep breath, searching his mind for what he truly thought of his face.

I only found one memory, of Dave looking into the mirror, his sad ten-year-old face covered in bruises and scars. There wasn't anything else.

"Dave," I breathed, coming out of his head and into reality. "Why can I only see one memory of your face?"

Dave looked at me sadly, his grey eyes filled with shame and guilt, and it all clicked into place.

"Dave," I said again, my voice low. "You haven't looked at yourself in eight years?"

He shook his head slowly. "I wouldn't have been able to without wanting to kill myself."

"Oh, sweetie," I whispered, taking him into my arms. "Never feel like that! I wouldn't be able to bear it if I had to live one day with hearing your voice!"

He pulled out from the hug, looking deep into my eyes, before placing his hand in the hallow at the back of my ear and crushing my face to his and he kissed me passionately.

I remembered we'd kissed the exact same way in Gotham just a little over three years ago, only it was different that time. More urgent. But now we were relaxing, just living in the moment of the kiss.

He pulled away. "This isn't right," Dave moaned. "I don't deserve you. You're so beautiful."

"I'm not beautiful, Dave," I smiled. "There are just a lot of stupid people out there who think I am."

He grinned, exposing his straight, white teeth. "Then call me the stupidest guy on the planet." He kissed me again.

I was the one to pull away this time. "Your memory of yourself," I muttered. "Your face, it's different now. Not just in years, but the scars ... they've healed up quite well."

"You're lying," Dave said, his jaw clenching.

"No," I promised. "I'm not."

I took the image of what his face looked like now, and, using my telepathy, I pushed the image into his mind.

Dave gasped as his eyes became unfocused, then a wide smile spread over his face, and he said, "No bloody way, Gina." Before he was kissing me for a third time.

When we were done, he smiled at me yet again and said, "I guess I'm gonna have to ditch the bandages now, huh?"

"Don't do that!" I begged. "You've already become known worldwide as 'The Mummy Detective Guy' to all of the little children. To change your costume now would just confuse the little children!"

"I though it was 'The Mummy Detective/Reporter guy," Dave grinned, gently stroking my hair.

"You always did want to be a reporter," I smiled. "You know, wearing that old 1930s trench coat and hat, sticking a piece of paper that said 'Press' in the hat's band, making you look like one of those stereotypical reporters from the cartoons."

"My namesake," Dave laughed lightly. "So, should I keep the bandages or what?"

"Um, keep them," I answered. "Except when we're alone."

"Why?"

I giggled. "Because I find scars _sexy_."

He blushed, and I was the one who kissed him this time.

When he pulled away he said, "My scars have really cleared up, G."

I grinned at him. "Of course," I said. "Time heals all wounds."

"Not mine," Dave said in confusion. "The knife that cut me was a magic one, and the marks made my it can only be cleared by the victim's soul mate." he paused. "My scars started healing up the day I met you, Jean. Of course, I didn't see then clear up but I felt them. They didn't sting anymore. And they've stung even less everytime I've kissed you. I think that you might be-"

I cut him off by crushing my lips to his, before pulling away and smiling at him. "Don't think," I said. "We'll let our futures tell us what we are to each other."

And that was that.


	9. Jen and Her Parents

Well, here's chapter nine. This chap will be told from Jen's POV and it tell us a lot about her past. Sorry that Plastic Man is so OOC ... But enjoy! And review!

xscifi :)

* * *

_She had made a terrible mistake._

_Why, oh why had she given her up? It would always be the biggest regret of her life, giving up her baby girl. Her beautiful, beautiful baby girl with her olive skin and honey blonde hair that gave her a little cow's lick of a fringe across her forehead. Her angelic baby girl who'd been born for the worst reason._

_When she and Steve hit their rough spot, she was hurt, so she looked around for a little fun._

_Patrick was so nice, so caring, she just couldn't help herself._

_Then she found out she was pregnant._

_She ended it with Steve and went into hiding. No one would ever know about the baby (except Patrick, the father) and no one would ever know what had happened to her._

_Patrick was sititing beside her in the delivery room, gazing down at the little baby in her arms, love in his face._

_"She has your eyes," he said with a sad smile._

_"And your cow's lick," she answered sadly._

_"Are you gonna keep her?" Patrick asked._

_"No," she said firmly. "As much as I want to, I can't. It would be unfair to her."_

_"I understand," Patrick sighed. "The adoptive parents are waiting in the hall. Are you sure you don't want to give them any contact details?"_

_"No," she said. "If she ever finds out that she's adopted, she'll want to come looking for me. She'll hate me. So, no. No contact. It would be better."_

_"Well, I am," Patrick said. "She may need one of us one day and I'm determined ther for her." he paused. "You can name her, you know. The adoptive parents have agreed to that."_

_She hesitated. "Jennifer," she said, tears welling up in her eyes._

_She started to cry, bringing the sleeping baby closer to her. Their last cuddle before they had to say goodbye._

_"Goodbye, Jennifer," she whispered. "I love you so much and I never want you to forget that."_

_She passed the baby to Patrick, who cuddled her and held her close. Then, the adoptive parents came in and took the baby from him._

_Out the door and to their home, she'd never see her baby girl again._

What a stupid mistake, _she__ thought._

* * *

**7 years earlier ...**

"Mom!" I called, trampling down the stairs.

My very distacted mother managed to tear her eyes from her work long enough to answer my question.

"Yes, sweetie?" she asked, trying to sound interested.

"I have to ask you something," I said.

"Could you make it quick?" she asked. "I have a project due ..."

I rolled my eyes. Work was all both of my parents could ever think about all the time.

"I need my birth certificates." I said. "I have a project due too, remember? The one about my family tree?"

"Uh huh," Mom said, distracted. "They're uh ... Up in the attic, in that box where we keep your baby pictures ..." she took a rushed sip of her tea. "Listen, sweetie. I gotta run. My boss just sent me an e-mail and there's a situation at the office ... will you be okay home alone?"

I rolled my eyes. "Mom, I'm home alone nearly everyday of the week, I'll be fine."

"Okay, honey," Mom smiled, picking up her briefcase and papers before kissing me on the head. "I love you! Be back in a few hours!"

"Bye," I called. Then she was gone.

I climbed the stairs quickly and made my way to the basement. I found the box with ease, as it had **"Jen's Baby Pictures"** written on it. I opened the box and smiled at the pictures of me and my friends at cheerleading finals, me with my first gymnastics trophy, me with my dance teacher, proudly holding up a silver medal for regionals, me on my first day of middle school, me with Lance Armstrong, my (extremely cute) friend (*cough, cough* crush *cough, cough*) who was on the football team, with me in my new cheerleading uniform, me with my parents ...

I smiled as I flipped through the photos, and eventually found my birth certificates. I put them on the floor and continued searching through the box. A tiny baby girl with honey-blonde hair that had a little cow's lick of a fringe, a small, turned up nose that had a handful of freckles sprinkled across it. I couldn't help but smile. I was so cute in those photos.

I put the photos on the floor with my birth certificates, thinking I had everything I needed, but then I saw some other sheets of paper at the bottom of the box.

Thinking that they were just some old drawings and that they'd be handy for my project, I picked them up.

Only to throw them back down again in horror after I read what they said.

_This document prooves that Jennifer Alyssa O'Brien was adopted by John and Celia Lewis on the day of her birth. _

_**Birth father:** Patrick O'Brien_

_**Contact details:** Phone number: 12345678910_

_**Birth mother:** Anonomys by her own wishes_

_**Contact details:** Unknown _

_Oh. My. God._ I thought, the information sinking in. _You're adopted, you're adopted, you're adopted. All those times you thought you looked nothing like your parents, that your grandparents seemed to be too nice to you ... this is the reason why. __You're_ adopted.

I hadn't realized I was crying.

_You've been lied to your whole life. Your 'mom' isn't your mom, your 'dad' isn't your dad, you don't belong to them, you never have ..._

I ran down to my room, got out a backpack and began throwing whatever my hands touched first into my bag. I had to get away. I hated these people. These people who lied to me my whole life. Hated their stinking guts.

I grabbed a note pad from my drawer and began to scribble in purple ink: _You lied to me my whole life, I hate you both. Don't try to look for me because, even if you do, I won't go back. I'm going to find my real mom and dad, and I hope we never see each other ever again. ~Jen_

I left the note on my bed and ran out of the house.

The rain was batting down hard on New York City. A storm was coming, definitely. A big one too. But what did I care?

I ran through the city as fast as my legs could carry me, tears streaming down my face, my mind set on everything that had happened to me in the past few minutes.

It seemed like I'd fazed out for a bit, and by the time I 'came to' I was running through Central Park.

I let myself collapse under one of its many tress and buried my face in my hands. How could this be happening? I asked myself. Up until a few minutes ago I was happy as Larry, with two parents I knew quite well and no worries.

I stayed there for what seemed like hours, but eventually a voice came: "Jen?"

My head snapped up, worried that it was my parents, but was relieved to see it was only Lance. Lance with his sports gear slung over his shoulder with a raincoat on.

"L-L-L-Lance?" I stuttered. "W-w-w-what a-are y-you doing h-here?"

"I could ask you the same question!" Lance exclaimed, but there was nothing humorous about the statement. "Jen? What are you doing here?" He asked, taking a step closer to me with every word.

"I-I," I began, but I couldn't finish. I just burst into tears.

"Jen, Jen, Jen," Lance whispered, picking me up to examine me. "Your lips are blue, and your skin ... so cold ..." He whipped off his raincoat and threw it over my shoulders, rubbing them up and down in hope of giving me some warmth. "Better?"

I nodded. "Y-yes," I sighed happily. "But w-what about y-y-y-you?"

Lance smiled at me, then ducked into his bag and pulled out a red hoodie. He pulled it over his head and shrugged his shoulders, then looked at me seriously.

"Jen, you're frozen, I'm going to take you home before you get pneomonia," he said.

"NO, NO, NO!" I shrieked suddenly getting freaked out. "That's not my home, THAT'S NOT MY HOME!"

"Okay, okay, calm down!" Lance said, panicked, trying to calm me down. "How about I take you to my house and then I'll have my mom call your parents?"

"They're not my parents," I snarled, my voice full of hate. "I hate them!"

"Not your parents?"

"I'm adopted, Lance."

Silence.

"Jen? Is that why you're out here right now?"

I nodded miserably.

Suddenly, Lance had pulled me into a tight hug, and was stroking my wet hair.

"It'll be okay," he told me. "I promise you it'll be okay."

I just nodded and sobbed into his chest.

When we were done with our little embrace, Lance walked me to his house, his arm around me the whole time. When we got to Lance's house, Lance's mother took one look at us and said, "Hot chocolate?"

I nodded gratefully.

"No marshmallows for Jen, just chocolate sprinkles and whipped cream," Lance said. "You know my favourite, Mom, thanks."

I stared at him. "You know my favourite way to drink hot chocolate?"

He shrugged and smiled.

_He is the best guy ever ..._

When Mrs. Armstrong was finished making our hot chocolates, she said to me, "Would you like me to call your mother, sweetie?"

I flinched at the word 'mother' but managed to recollect myself and say: "No thanks you, Mrs. Armstrong. Do you mind if I stay here a little while longer?"

"Of course, sweetheart," Mrs. Armstrong smiled. "And please, call me Kate."

"Kate," I smiled, then took a sip of my hot chocolate.

Lance took my hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

I nodded. "I am now," I said with a grateful smile at him, then I squeezed his hand in return. "Thank you for everything, Lance."

He shrugged. "No biggy."

Lance had a pretty bad reputation at school. I mean, don't me wrong, he was well-liked for taking part in sprts, and he was on good terms with all the guys in class (unlike most jocks, he wasn't a bully), but he had a very bad reputation with girls.

Just last week he was caught kissing Debbie Hughes behind the dumpster, and the week before that it was Karen Munroe. And the week before that was Ally Thompson. He was eleven for crying out loud!

... But still, all that aside, tonight he had proved to be that he could be more than just a 'man slut'. He could be a man.

"Jen?" Kate asked, coming into us. "Your uncle is here to pick you up."

"Uncle?" I said. I didn't have an uncle. My ... 'parents' were both only children.

"Yeah, he said your parents sent him to come pick you up," Kate confirmed.

I looked at Lance. "See you later ..." I said.

"Yeah! How about we sit together at lunch tomorrow?" Lance said eagerly.

"Okay," I said, giving him a small wave and smiling gatefully at his mother before I went for the door.

Sure enough, there was a tall figure standing in the doorway. He was wearing these black, sliver rimmed sunglasses (sunglasses? It was raining cats and dogs outside!) and a large overcoat. His skin was pale and his hair was black, with a cow's lick of a fringe. He smiled at me.

"Listen, bucko," I hissed, glaring at him. "What are you playing at? You're not my uncle!"

"I know," the man said. "I'm your birth father."

My jaw dropped. "WHAT?"

"Come with me, Jennifer," he said, stretching out his hand, intending for me to take it.

We walked down the street together, quiet all the while, until the man said, "Let's sit down."

I nodded and sat down on the bench beside him. "So you're my dad, huh?" I said quietly.

"Yes, I am," he sighed. "My name is Patrick, by the way."

"I know ..." I said. "Patrick? Why did you give me up?"

Patrick cleared his throat. "Umm ... your mother and I were very young at the time. Not teenagers, but she had been in a relationship with someone and had had an affair with me. She thought too many people would've gotten hurt if she'd kept you."

I nodded. I understood perfectly, but I was still angry.

"She loved you very much, you know," Patrick said. "She cried as she had to say goodbye to you, but she knew it was for the best."

I nodded again. Maybe it was.

"You look just like her," he said fondly. "You have her hair, my my cow's lick, and you have her eyes too."

I smiled. "Why does your voice sound so familiar to me?" I asked.

Patrick cleared his throat. "Uhh ... There's something you need to know about yourself, Jennifer."

I looked at him expectantly.

"Jennifer, you have superpowers."

I gawped at him. "SUPERPOWERS?"

He nodded.

"You're lying," I growled.

"Try and touch that lamp post over there," Patrick said.

I was about to get up, but then he pulled me down. _"From here,"_ he said.

"But that's impossible!" I said.

Patrick shrugged. "Reach out, and close your eyes. Then see what happens."

I rolled my eyes. My birth father - the loon. Ugh! But despite my negativity, I did what he said.

I closed my eyes and reached out to the lamp post until I felt the cool, wet metal under my palm.

"Open your eyesm Jen," he whispered.

I did ...

And I screamed.

Why? Because my arm had been stretched to about a metre in length!

Unfortunately, because of my shock, my stretched arm quickly recoiled (on account of me losing concentration) and hit me in the face!

I yelped, falling off the bench and into the muck.

"Shitbucket," I muttered, getting up.

"Excellent!" Patrick grinned. "You have my powers!"

"So," I snapped. "Do you do this professionally, or were you one of those teenagers who hid away because they felt 'misunderstood' and 'freakish'?"

"I do it professionally," Patrick answered. "And, no, I didn't grow up like that at all. I only got my powers in my early twenties."

"How?"

"Toxic waste."

"Sore?"

"Very. That's why I'm glad you have yours naturally."

We were quiet for a moment.

"Who are you?" I asked. "I mean, like, Peter Parker is meant to be Spiderman and Jean Gray is meant to be Pheonix ..." I paused. "Who's Patrick O'Brien?" (A/N: I'm making it that Marvel superheroes are fake and DC ones are real ^^;)

"Eh ..." Patrick hesitated. "Patrick O'Brien is Plastic Man, Jennifer."

"P-P-P-Plastic Man?" I gasped. "Dude! You're like, one of the best out there! You've been with Batman and Wildcat and Aquaman ..." (A/N: I don't know if he really has, but I'm basing this on Batman: The Brave and the Bold)

Patrick- I mean, Plastic Man smirked. "How flattering."

"Is my mom like you?" I asked. "Is she a superhero as well?"

He was quiet for a moment. "Yes, yes she is."

I nodded. "I wanna join you."

"WHAT?" It was his turn to say it now.

"If you and my mom are heroes, I wanna be one too," I said. "I've spent my whole life thinking I belonged to a German-American woraholic mother and a fully American workaholic father. I wanted to be like both of them. I thought that, one day, I'd be a workaholic too! So, if you and my real mom are heroes, why can't I be one?"

"But, Jennifer-"

"Don't try to tell me I can't," I said. "I'm too stubborn for you. I can tell and I've only known you for fifteen minutes."

Patrick smiled. "I know. Your mother said that to me the first time I met her." he swallowed. "You're just like her, Jen."

"Then let me be like her," I said. "I want to follow in her footsteps, and yours too!"

"Fine ..." he sighed. "I'm only letting you because I know I won't be able to convince you otherwise, and because ..." he smiled at me. "You have a point."

"So," I beamed. "What's my name gonna be?"

Patrick hesitated. "How about ..." he smiled. "... Plastic Girl?"

"Plastic Girl?" I said, horrified. "Patrick, I look enough like a Barbie already without the name to back it up."

"Oh."

"Hmm ..." I muttered. "How about ... Gymnasti-Girl?"

He smiled. "I like it, it sounds just like your mom's name."

I smirked. "Good."

"You're gonna have to know how to fight, y'know," Patrick warned. "It'll be tough."

"I'M tough!" I said. "Besides, I did kick-boxing for a bit and I was pretty good. How hard can it be?"

"Hard enough," Patrick said. "I'll take you to my friend, Wildcat, and he'll teach you."

I beamed at him. "Thanks, Dad."

"Y-you called me 'Dad'," he gasped.

"That's what you are to me, right?" I asked, slipping my hand into his.

"Yes ..." Dad said, as if this was news to him. "Yes, I am!"

I grinned at him. "Yeah, you are."

He grinned back. "Come on, Jen," he said, giving my hand a squeeze. "Let's gwt you home so your adoptive parents know that you're alright."

I just kept smiling. Because, honestly, I didn't care if he took me back.

As long as he was the one taking me.

**2 years later ...** (this is NOT the Flashforward ...)

I walked down one of the many paths of Central Park with my hands stuck in the pockets of my teal blue dress.

As I walked, I couldn't help but remember how I'd come here just a little over two years ago, when I thought my whole world was falling apart, how I'd cried and nearly gotten pneamonia after I hid under that big oak tree as the rain batted down on top of me.

How Lance came up, fresh from football practice, how he made me feel safe, feel better. I saw that day that he could be more than just the popular, sporty heart throb. He could be mature too.

"Hey, Jen!" I heard a voice behind me, and I couldn't help but smile.

_Right on cue, as always,_ I thought, turning to greet him. "Hey, Laurance," I smirked.

Lance pulled a face. 'Laurance' was his real name, but instead of spelling it 'Laurence' his parents had spelled it 'Laurance' instead.

Not wanting to have the nickname 'Larry', Lance took the 'L' from the beginning of his name and the 'ance' from the ending, thus making his nickname, Lance!

Lance pulled a face. "Hey, Jen," he grinned. "What's up?"

I shrugged. "Nothing much," I said. "Just taking a walk, is all."

Lance nodded. "So ..." he said awkwardly. "How're you and your dad getting on?"

I smiled. My father had taken me to Wildcat's boxing club, where he taught me everything he knew about fighting. My gymnastics skills were already as strong as they would get, so by that time, I was ready to go with my dad on a mission.

I got a costume and a mask, and was dubbed Plastic Girl (which I DID NOT like) but that was alright. I only stayed my dad's sidekick for a little while before returning to normality (school, homework, cheerleading practice ...), but I was okay with that too. At least I got to spend more time with Lance, which reminded me ...

I was starting to feel a little more for Lance than just friendship. Me and a bunch of my friends had been talking about him just the other night, and I'd let it slip that I may fancy him a bit, but then my friend Alison piped up, "He's a heartbreaker, Jen. Don't waste your time."

"We're fine," I said, answering his question. "What middle school are you going to in the Fall?"

Lance swallowed. "Er ... Superro Herro," he said.

I smirked. "That school for the gifted, eh?"

He nodded. "The very one."

"I'm going there too," I smiled.

"Seriously?" Lance said, excited. "Ahem, _I mean_ ... you know, that's cool. I'll get to see you there, and all ..." he cleared his throat.

"What's your power?" I asked him.

"Strength," he said, rolling his eyes. "You?"

"Elasticity," I smiled.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

We were silent.

"Eh, Jen?" Lance said. "Remember when I came here and I found you crying under that big tree? Like, two years ago?"

"Yeah? " How could I forget?

"You remember how, when you cried, I took you in my arms and held you?" Lance continued, rubbing the back of his neck. I hadn't realised he'd gotten so close to me.

"Yeah?" I said again, swallowing.

"Well," Lance gulped. "I've been thinking about that hug for a while now," he looked at me. "And, I've been thinking about you."

"I've been thinking about you too," I said, slipping my hand into his.

"I-it was a really nice hug ..." Lance said awkwardly.

"The nicest," I agreed, looking down.

"So, would you mind if we-"

Before he could say another word, I'd crushed my lips to his and held him close. Lance soon slipped his hands on my waist, and we stood there for what seemed like weeks.

My first kiss ... and all I wanted was for my mother to be there to see it.

**4 years later ...**

"Guys," Beast Boy said proudly, placing his hands on his waist. "Meet the Doom Patrol!"

Avatar grinned, putting a hand up. "Hey, how's it going?"

Press grunted, Delphi nodded, and the Titans stayed in their places as they eyed the senior superhero team.

Me? I was staring at the woman who was standing in the middle of them all.

She was beautiful and tall, with a great, curvy body and long limbs. Her hair was a light brown that seemed to look honey blonde in the sunlight that was shining down on it. Her hair was pulled back into a beehive type quif with a hairband, kinda the way I was earing my hair. Like the rest of her team and Beast Boy, she was wearing a black turtle-neck shirt that had a long, wide puple streak down her suit. She wore a silver clasped belt, and a purple mini skirt, with heeled purple boots and elbow length grey gloves.

And she was staring right at me too.

"I ... I ..." she began before breaking down in tears. "Oh, Steve! I'm so sorry!"

"What is it, Rita?" Mento asked her, kneeling down beside her.

"I had an affair!" she wailed.

"What?" Mento gasped. "When?"

"Seventeen years ago," she said. "We were in our rough spot, it was just before we broke up."

Mento gulped. "And what?"

"I-I got pregnant," she whispered. "I had the baby, she was beautiful ..."

"Rita," Mento said. "Why are you telling me this now?"

"Because she's here ..." Rita murmured, looking straight at me.

Beast Boy let out a sharp gasp, before saying, "Rita? Are you saying that you're Jen's ..."

"M-mom?" I said, finishing his sentence as my eyes welled up with tears.

"Jennifer ..." she smiled tenderly at me. "I'm so, so, SO sorry. I never wanted to give you up, but you have to believe me, I didn't have any other choice."

"I forgive you," I whispered, surprised at how simple this seemed. "And, I-I-"

Before I knew what I was doing, I had thrown my arms around her.

"It's okay, it's okay, I'm here," Rita soothed. "I'm finally here."

She was finally here. And I loved her very much.

* * *

Well, hope you enjoyed that! Next chap will focus on Lance!

xscifi :)


	10. Lance and his Love

Ugh, it feels good to be updating again! :3 Last week I realized how much I missed this story when I was reading over it. I just thought, "Wow, it's been a while. Maybe I should continue this – it deserves an ending!" and here I am, continuing the story! :D Ah! It feels great to be writing again! Anyways, as I said in the previous chapter (do any of you even remember what HAPPENED in the previous chapter? O.o Not likely …) I said that this chap would be told from Lance's POV. I'll be true to my word, so here it is, even though it probably isn't my best work! Enjoy!

~xscifi :)

* * *

**1 year earlier …**

"That's enough for today, boys," Coach Armstrong yelled to the football team. "Hit the showers, you all smell!" he paused to laugh heartily. "Good job, everyone!"

Relieved that our three-hour long practice was finally over, I removed my football helmet and running my fingers through my now greasy hair, I jogged towards the showers.

"Awesome game, buddy," I clapped my friend Josh on the back supportively, catching up to him on my way. "The Giants'll be lookin' for ya before you know it!"

"Thanks, Lance!" Josh grinned at me. "You were great too! Finals are IN THE BAG this year!"

I laughed and continued to jog next to him.

"Lance."

I paused, and turned around.

Coach Armstrong was looking at me with … _The Look._

"Yo, Lance!" Josh yelled. "You okay?"

"Yeah," I called. "Go on ahead, bro. I gotta take care of this."

I strode up to Coach Armstrong confidently, a cocky smile on my face. Yeah, on the surface I was calm and ready, but inside I was a mess.

And he knew it.

"What is it, Coach?" I asked him airily, like nothing was wrong.

Coach didn't return my bright smile.

"Laurance Theodore Armstrong," he said, his voice low. "What did I tell you about tackling people before the whistle blows? Do I need to remind you AGAIN?"

"No sir," my smile gone, I answered him respectfully. "I'm sorry, sir. I got caught in the moment and wasn't thinking. I'd never do it on purpose, sir. Not after you told me not to."

Coach Armstrong stared at me, his cold blue eyes unforgiving.

I gulped.

That moment of weakness was all he needed.

"So why do you keep doing it?" he asked sternly. "Lance, what're you tryin' to prove? You're already our star quarterback, you seem to be one of the most well-liked guys on the team – and other places too. You got a ton of girls flockin' around you … why are you rebelling against me, son?"

Yep, that's right: Coach Armstrong is really my dad. Wondering why he's giving out to me for football reasons? Well, I suppose you could say that – at times – my dad acted more like my coach than … my DAD. Wondering why that is? Simple answer, really – my dad's a bit of a dick.

"I'm not rebelling against you," I replied, my fists clenching. "I'm sorry, Dad. I've just been playing that way for so long, it's hard for me to stop. I'll try harder next time, I promise."

Dad nodded only once, before saying, "Fine. Hit the showers, Lance."

I nodded too, before turning to walk away from him.

"Son?"

I faced him, "Yes, Dad?"

"You know I'm only being hard on you because I lo-" I think he was about to say, "I love you", but he reigned himself in and continued, "… because I want you to do well, right?"

Disappointed that he didn't say what I thought he would, my shoulders slumped.

"Yeah, Dad," I muttered, stalking away. "I know."

**The next day …**

"Hey, babe," I smiled at Jen before sitting down beside her and the guys, draping my arm around her.

"Hi, Lance," Jen smiled back at me, batting her long eyelashes.

God, I loved it when she did that. It was just too darn cute!

"You're so cute when you do that," I said without thinking.

Jen giggled, before pulling me in and saying, "Am I cute when I do this?"

She planted a kiss on my mouth.

"The cutest," I said, my voice seductively low.

We started kissing again, but were interrupted by a very subtle (not) cough.

"Please," Kimiko glared at us. "Just PLEASE with the kissy-face while I'm trying to eat my lunch!"

"Seconded!" Dave raised his hand, followed by Gina.

Leela smiled sweetly at us before saying, "I think it's adorable!"

Jeromy pulled a face. "You would," he laughed. "You're way too sweet for your own good, Lee."

Everyone muttered in agreement about how sweet Leela was, but I just smiled.

"Honey, what happened to you yesterday?" Jen lowered her voice, looking at me intuitively, as if she sensed that my smile was more forced than genuine. "I saw you coming out of practice looking while upset – did you and your dad …"

"-No," I interrupted, laughing as if it was something that would never happen. "Jen, we're fine, honestly."

Jen narrowed her eyes at me, giving me the _I-Know-You're-Lying-To-Me-So-Stop-It-Now-Or-You're-In-Trouble_ look.

I sighed and whispered in her ear, "I'll tell you later, okay?"

Jen simply nodded and smiled understandingly at me.

_She is the best girlfriend ever!_ I thought, not pulling my face away from hers and instead kissing her cheek.

"Yuck!" Kimiko yelled obnoxiously, noticing me whispering in Jen's ear. "They're probably planning their next make-out session …"

"Yeah, that's what we were doing," I flirted in reply, waggling my eyebrows suggestively at Kimiko. "What's wrong, Kim? Jealous much?"

"Leela is," Dave chortled.

"Hey, now," Leela warned him good-naturedly. "Enough of that." She looked to Jen apologetically. "He's only messing, really!"

Jen simply laughed and shrugged it off. "I know," she smiled. "Seriously, don't worry about it, Lee."

"Yeah," Gina piped up. "And there's no way Jeromy would allow Lance to take you away without a fight!"

Jeromy's blue eyes widened in shock and he glared at Gina, before turning to Leela and laughing hysterically. "She's joking," he insisted. "Really, she is!"

I couldn't help but laugh.

It was so obvious to everyone BUT Leela that Jeromy liked her, just like it was so obvious to everyone that Gina and Dave liked each other, even though they always denied it.

It made me feel smug that Jen and me were the only ones who were really up-front about our feelings for each other – like we had something that none of the other guys had.

"Of course," Leela laughed. "Plus, Lance would never really try to steal me from you, _m__i chico griego_. He knows you could kick his ass without even trying."

For Jeromy's sake I didn't object, and simply let him have his moment in the sun.

"No ..." was his modest reply. He blushed.

"Yep," Leela smiled at him. "You're so sweet when you're modest, Jez. I really like it."

"I'm sure you don't," Jeromy flirted with her, causing her to raise an eyebrow suggestively and say, "Wanna bet, _material __caliente_?"

"I really wish I hadn't taken Spanish," Kimiko retched.

"I really wish I did," Jeromy said, his gaze still on Leela. "Hey, Lee? What does, _material __caliente _mean?"

Leela simply got up, before winking at him and saying, "Wanna find out?"

"Yes please," Jeromy kept him voice low and seductive, before following her.

"I hate you guys!" Kimiko exasperated. "All of you are so lovey-dovey it's gonna make me hurl! When I agreed to hang out with you lot, I only did it because there was only _one couple_ present. Now ... I swear to God if Leela and Jeromy start dating there'll be too much diabetes-inducing sweetness and I will die!"

"Hey now," Gina laughed. "Kim, your negativity towards love is so ... negative! How can you just ruin it for us?"

"Ugh, not some more hopeless romantic crap from you, Gina," Dave scoffed. "Seriously, we get it - you believe in true love and soulmates and blah, blah, blah."

"What do _you_ have against love?" Gina asked him, crossing her arms.

"Nothing much," Dave said. "I just gave up on it a long time ago ..."

Dave looked down at his hands, as if he was remembering something, and suddenly Gina was doing the same thing, her face a picture of sadness and loss.

Was she reading Dave's mind? Something told me she was ...

"We gotta go," I said eventually, pulling Jen up with me as I rose to leave. "See you at school tomorrow?"

"Yep," Kimiko answered. "As soon as I wake up Sleeping Beauty over there ..."

"What about Dave?" I asked, confused.

"I _meant_ Dave," Kimiko winked at me.

With a genuine smile at my friend, I left with Jen on my arm.

"Take me to your house," she said when we were completely alone. "We need to talk."

**Later ...**

"Everything okay, kids?" Mom looked at me and Jen with concern and care.

"Yep, we're fine, Kate," Jen smiled reassuringly at my mother. I was so glad that they got along so well - Josh's mom absolutely hated Billy, and everytime Josh went to go out with her, his mom would start the 'Why Can't You Do Better Than Her' rant. Luckily, I didn't have that problem.

"How's your dad, Jennifer?" Mom asked kindly. "Still working?"

"Yep, Dad helped Batman and Superman take down Lex Luthor again last week," Jen confirmed. "He wanted to know how you and Mr. Armstrong were."

"Tell him we're fine, honey," Mom smiled. "Also, ask him for me if Batman ever answered my question about Catwoman from last year's Christmas party. He'll know what I mean," she added with a sly wink.

Confused my the superhero jargon? Well, basically, my Mom and Dad used to be superheroes before they got married and had me; Mom had been the dazzling Ultra-Girl and Dad had been the stupendous Mega Man, both crimefighters of the highest standard ... until Mom got knocked up and they had to retire, that is.

"I will," Jen smiled politely.

"C'mon," I said, taking Jen's hand and dismissing the conversation. "Mom, Jen's here to help me with my German homework - we won't be long."

Mom nodded and let us up the stairs, and Jen - taking the lead - dragged me into my room before shutting the door.

"Okay," she breathed. "What happened to you yesterday?"

"Nothing ..." I said, instantly closing up and sitting down on my bed. "Nothing happened, Jen. I'm fine."

"No you're not," Jen said. "I know you, Lance. It was your dad, wasn't it?"

I didn't answer her - I just looked away.

"So it was your dad," Jen sighed and sat down beside me. "Lance - what did he say?"

"Oh, y'know, the usual," I shrugged. "He gave me a pointless lecture, and just when I was beginning to think he cared about me, he'd close up and just leave me hangin'."

"Oh, hon," Jen said softly. "I'm sorry, really I am."

"What's there to be sorry about?" I asked nonchalantly. "My dad doesn't love me - big deal. Dave's dad didn't love him. In fact, he ran out on the family. Dave survived ... Dave's okay."

"He is," Jen agreed. "But he's damaged. You heard him today, 'I gave up on love a long time ago'. He's seriously in a bad way, Lance; anti-social, standoffish ... Don't get me wrong, I love Dave, but I don't want that to be you."

"Well, it's not up to you," I said coldly, surprising myself by how harsh I sounded.

Jen was surprised too, and even whimpered a little.

"Oh, Jen," I softened, immediately regretting my tone. "I didn't mean it - I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," Jen recovered, locking eyes with me. "You're right, it's not up to me. But I can help you feel loved," she added, a wry smile playing on her lips.

Sensing what she was getting at, I smiled back, "What did you have in mind?"

"Oh ..." Jen appeared nonchalant. "Just a cuddle ... Maybe a little kissin'."

"I wouldn't mind that," I said, taking her into my arms and kissing her.

Kissing Jen always felt so right. From that first day in Central Park, I've never wanted anyone else's lips on mine - Not Leela's, not Gina's ... hell, I didn't even want Cheryl Cole's!

All I wanted was Jen, her lovely, forgiving heart and that way she had of understanding me.

...Well, that, and her gorgeous curves too.

We stopped kissing, and Jen looked me in the eye and said, "You know that - even if your parents don't - I will always love you, don't you Lance?"

I nodded, breathing hard, before saying, "Yeah, I know. I'll always love you too, Jen."

At that moment, I knew that no matter who tempted me away, or put me down, or tried to break me, I'd always been Jen's as long as she wanted me, and Jen would always be mine.

And I'd never, ever stop wanting her.

**1 year later ...**

"Lance, oh, Lance!" Jen sobbed as she cradled me in her arms. "Don't talk like that, ever, ever!"

Grunting, I managed to shake my head before rasping, "It's too ... late, Jen ... I think ... I'm a ... lost cause now." I managed a weak smile at my joke.

"Lance," Leela said fiercely, looking as tearful as Jen. "There has to be a way - don't give up on us!"

"I never ... will," I wheezed. "But ... right now ... it's not up to me."

"NO!" Jen wailed. "Lance, please, don't do this to me! You can't die! If you die, who am I going to grow up to marry? Or whose kids am I gonna have? Or whose face will I see first thing every morning? And who will I fight with over money? And who will love me forever and ever and never hurt me?" The look on her gorgeous face was breaking my heart.

"I don't know," I coughed. "But, Jen ... there will be ... somebody else ... I'm not ... the only ... incredibly handsome ... guy out there." I smiled.

Jen managed a weak smile back, before cupping my face with her hand.

"I don't want to lose you," she breathed.

"None of us do, Lance," Gina sobbed. "I'm so sorry ... If I'd seen-"

"It's not ... your fault," I insisted. I looked at Leela and Dave, who were probably blaming themselves too. "It's not ... anybody's fault ... It's mine, okay? ... I ... messed up ... not you guys."

Leela looked down as a big fat tear rolled down her cheek.

"So, is this goodbye?" she whispered, appearing to be the first to accept I was ... dying.

"Yeah," I smiled weakly, accepting it myself. "I ... I guess ... It is."

"I love you," Leela silently mouthed the words so only I could hear, and I nodded. I felt bad that I didn't feel the same way about her - even though what we'd had was special.

Which made me feel really guilty that we'd had it behind Jen's back.

"I'm not gonna lie, I'm mad at you, dude," Dave managed to choke out a dry joke. "Leaving me here with all these girls ... My idea of hell."

"At least ... they're hot," I tried to make the situation seem better for him.

"True," Dave nodded, but then became serious. "I - I'm really gonna miss you, buddy," he said sincerely, sounding like he was about to cry.

"I'll miss ... you too," I managed. "Take care ... of Jen for ... me, will you?"

Dave nodded, and Gina spoke, "I'll miss you Lance. And even if our religious beliefs have differed in the past, I wish for Zeus to greet you home to Olympus for me."

I laughed raspily. "You ... and your ... stupid Greek ... mythological ... beliefs," I said fondly.

"Let's leave Jen and Lance to say goodbye alone," Leela said assertively, and the rest of them began to move away.

"Thank you," I mouthed at her, causing her to nod and mouth back, "She was best for you."

Jen stared down at me, her green eyes glittering with tears.

"Hey, beautiful ..." I cooed. "Don't cry ... You'll ruin your eyes."

Jen shook her head, "I can't help it, babe," she said. "But if seeing my eyes makes it better for you I'll try my best not to cry."

"That's ... my girl," I said.

"Why did this happen?" Jen whispered, stroking my cheek and shaking her head. "Why does this always happen to good people?"

I frowned, "I'm not ... a good person ... Jen."

"Of course you are," Jen insisted. "Lance, you are the bravest, most honest person I know."

"No ..." I wheezed. "Jen ... I have to ... tell you ... about me ... and Leela ... we ..."

"... Kissed?" Jen looked at me intuitively, finishing my sentence. "Yeah, I've known forever."

"But ... how?" I was shocked.

"Honey, you talk in your sleep," she cooed. "And, you were acting really guilty."

"But ..." I gasped. "... you're not mad?"

"Of course not," Jen said. "Baby, I know I'll always be the only girl you'll ever love, and that Leela will realize soon enough that you're not the one for her," she hiccuped. "Or at least, she WOULD'VE realized ..." she started sobbing again.

With great effort I reached up and touched her face.

"You are ... the best girlfriend .. ever," I whispered fondly. "And ... I didn't ... deserve you. I ... love you ... so much."

"And I love you, Lance," Jen cried, bending down and kissing my lips. "I always will ... I'll never move on!"

"Do ..." I insisted, sensing that my time was nearly up. "Love him ... like you loved ... me, and he'll ... die happy - just like I did."

And with that, I allowed myself to be taken away by Zeus or God or whoever looked after you when you went.

And right there, lying in Jen - the love of my life's arms, I took my final breath

and died.


End file.
